American Honey

Life Without Facebook, Part 2

2011-03-31T14:48:00.001-04:00

Today marks the halfway point in Lent, meaning there are only three weeks and four days left until I can log into Facebook again. Surprisingly, I’m doing okay without Facebook in my life, but I think it’s because I’ve been supplementing with other social media outlets like Tumblr and Twitter. The thing is, I find myself participating in the same morning routine with Tumblr that I did with Facebook; alarm goes off, check any emails that may have come in overnight, then immediately look at Tumblr (or Twitter, but usually Tumblr). Afterward, I read the little book I got at church.

Part of the reason I gave up Facebook is because I noticed how much time I was spending there via the app on my phone or on the site itself. I decided not to give up all of social media because I wanted to still be active on Twitter. I use Twitter as a personal branding tool and a way to learn more about social media and health care since both are career interests of mine. I only follow a handful of people on Tumblr (about 15 or so), so I figured staying involved there wouldn’t be an issue. However, it has become clear to me that Tumblr has become my crutch, my way to find out what’s going on with people.

I’m definitely glad I decided to give up Facebook for Lent; in fact, I don’t really even miss it anymore. At the same time, I sort of feel like I’m cheating since I’ve been spending time on Tumblr. I know it’s not the same thing –Tumblr is a blogging site whereas Facebook is, well, Facebook –but it feels like I’m defeating the whole purpose of wanting stay away from Facebook in the first place.

While I knew before Lent that life can and will go on without Facebook, I’ve realized that I’ve placed a certain level of importance on social media and I want it to be a part of my life. Maybe my relationship (yes, relationship I think is an appropriate word) with Facebook was bordering on extreme but I enjoyed the way it made me feel connected to people. Isn’t that the point of a social network?

Life Without Facebook

2011-03-11T14:23:00.001-05:00

I was totally against Facebook when it became available at Virginia Tech in 2005 (I think that was the year); I thought it was stupid, creepy and I wanted no part of it. Of course, curiosity and peer pressure got the best of me and I reluctantly signed up. In the beginning it wasn’t all that exciting to me, but as Facebook became available at other schools, I became more interested. I started finding people from my childhood I had lost touch with due to my family moving from New Jersey to Virginia and was able to connect with people I had met while attending East Carolina University.

Fast forward six years later and some might call me an addict. I have the Facebook app on my phone and checking people’s status updates is one of the first things I do when I wake up in the morning. When there is a lull in my workload at the office, I’m using Facebook on my phone to see what other people are up to. Someone got engaged? Definitely have to check out Facebook to see if there are pictures of the ring. Someone broke up? Had a baby? Experienced some other life event that interests me? I’m on Facebook checking it out. Wow, writing this all out really does make me out to be an addict, doesn’t it?

Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, I’ve decided to give up Facebook for Lent. Forty days and 40 nights with no access to other people’s lives, photos, etc. I’ve removed the app from the main screen of my phone (but not from my phone altogether because it was preloaded on my Android and thus, unremovable –kinda creepy right?), and no longer have a tab open on my home computer’s browser dedicated to Facebook. Now I’m not the most religious person but since I’ll have a few extra minutes in the morning from not looking at Facebook, I’ve decided to read from a little book of prayers I picked up from church on Ash Wednesday. If I find I have some time at work during the day, I’ll fight the urge to look at Facebook by researching something else on the Internet, like stuff about Lent or the Bible (or cars or potential vacation spots).

So far, and it’s only been about a day and a half, I’ve done okay. However, it was really hard last night while watching the Hokies beat Georgia Tech, not to get on my computer and see what people were up to, a usual habit of mine during the evenings. I wonder if I’ll get to the point Brad has reached, giving up Facebook completely and deactivating my account, calling Facebook a social disease. I guess I will find out in 30-something plus days!

The Turpins Are Moving to Richmond!

2011-02-10T15:55:00.002-05:00

Yes what you're reading is true: Lindsay and Eric are moving to Richmond! I honestly never thought the day would come but after everything that has happened, both Lindsay and Eric are ready for a change. I know Eric was nervous about asking for a transfer at work but thankfully his boss (and his boss' boss) said it was okay. What's crazy is that this has all happened in the past two weeks!
Last weekend, the Turpins came to Richmond to house hunt and invited us along to get our opinion and advice. We looked at seven houses but ultimately they fell in love with the house I knew they would; the house our friends Niem and Nina put on the market since moving to California. Lindsay was so cute when she saw the house saying she loved it so much she felt sick. We didn't stay long before we headed back to the Realtor's office so they could make an offer. To make the deal that much sweeter, after a little negotiating, their offer was accepted later in the evening!
Now the fun begins! Eric, Lindsay and Lane will be back on Tuesday for the home inspection and then plan to hang around the rest of the day. They close on March 11 and will move down here shortly after. I cannot tell you how excited I am to have them here. While I will miss going away for the weekend to see them, it will be so much more convenient having them close. I cannot wait to see what fun is in store for the four (er five) of us!

I was gone for a minute, now I'm back again

2011-01-09T20:46:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year!! I cannot believe it's 2011 and that I haven't posted since November 16, but I have been incredibly busy! Let me briefly bring you up to speed on all that I've been up to since my last post.

Thanksgiving (November 25, 2010) - Brad and I spent Thanksgiving with our friends Eric and Lindsay. Lindsay is my friend who was involved in a tragic car accident in October. The boys deep fried our turkey and Lindsay and I made all of the side dishes, it was amazing. Brad and I were finally able to meet Lindsay and Eric's son, Lane. He is absolutely adorable and growing so well. Here are some pictures:

Sleeping angel

Bath time!

Brad and his Godson

QualityNet Conference (November 30-December 2, 2010) - Right after Thanksgiving I headed to Baltimore, Md. for a work conference. I thought this year's conference would be a little less stressful than last year but I was so wrong! I worked very long days on very little sleep and without three square meals each day. The conference was exhausting but was very successful.

Brad's 30th Birthday (December 11, 2010) - Although Brad told me he didn't want to do anything for his 30th birthday, his sister Lisa and I schemed the whole week before to plan a small surprise party for him. It was SO hard to keep a secret but I did it and Brad was totally surprised. We had the party catered by a friend of Lisa's who made some of Brad's favorite foods and we got a cake made that looked like an X-Box controller. Check it out:

Christmas (December 25, 2010) - Brad and I spent Christmas with my parents in Northern Virginia. After all of the craziness of work and the holiday season, it was nice to relax, sleep in and be spoiled by my parents. It was also nice to catch up with friends, some who I hadn't seen since college. Pictures from our mini-vacation are below:

Santa Delilah

My gift from my sister; a Hokie inspired lap top cover!

The girls; my parent's dog Lucy and Delilah

New Year's Eve (December 31, 2010) - After a few days in back in Richmond, Brad and I traveled to Eric and Lindsay's for New Year's Eve. Lindsay and Eric cooked us dinner (beef burgundy with bread and salad) and I made us dessert (blueberry cheesecake bites). As we were sitting down to dinner, Eric opened a bottle of champagne, looked at Lane and said "I hope one day you have friends as good as our to spend New Year's Eve with." He almost made me cry! Check out some cutie cute pics of Lane (and one of Eric during our whipped cream fight)!!

While 2010 had its ups and downs, overall it was a good year. I'm looking forward to all that 2011 has to offer and hope to be better about sharing it all with you!

"Go Shorty, It's Your Birthday"

2010-11-06T18:18:00.001-04:00

Ah yes, 50 Cent, today IS my birthday and I spent the day wine tasting in enemy territory, a.k.a. Charlottesville, with Brad. Despite today's beautiful scenery, neither Brad nor I took any pictures!

Our first stop was to Jefferson Vineyards on the original vineyard of Thomas Jefferson. Of the three wineries we visited, Jefferson Vineyards definitely had the best wines. We were greeted by a sorority girl proudly displaying her Delta Zeta sweatshirt and settled at the bar in front of one of the wine tasting staffers, an energetic older man. I can honestly say I liked every single wine we had the opportunity to taste except for the Rose. I don't typically like Rose wines so that wasn't much of a surprise. As part of my birthday gift, Brad offered to purchase a bottle of wine so we went home with their easy drinking Vin Rouge.

After a quick stop to our friend's new apartment, we moved on to Blenheim Vineyards owned by Dave Matthews. Brad and I had been wanting to visit Blenheim for quite some time, but I have to admit I was a bit disappointed. Not only was it incredibly crowded and the service wasn't that great, the atmosphere wasn't what I was expecting. They did have a fabulous deck overlooking the vineyard with a beautiful view of the mountains, but since we hadn't planned to drink or eat there we didn't take advantage. Despite the spotty service, I did like their chardonnay and took a bottle home with me.

Our last stop was to Sugarleaf Vineyards which was featured on the Real Housewives of D.C. The reviews on Google looked promising but again, I was slightly disappointed. I already knew the drive to the winery would be sketchy; a single lane dirt road leads you to the "estate" and if you come upon another car, it makes for an awkward situation. When we were inside the tasting room it was pretty crowded. Unlike the other wineries, Sugarleaf charges a wine tasting fee plus tax as well as an additional fee if you want the glass. Bottles of wine are pricey too, ranging anywhere from $23 to $40. Only want a glass of wine? You might as well buy a bottle as you'll be paying $8-9 a glass. Brad made a point that since they are a small winery they need to make money; to me, the quality of their wines did not warrant the cost. We tasted several white wines and a couple of reds, one of which I considered taking home, but we left empty-handed, deciding to save our money for dinner.

We had originally planned to have dinner in Charlottesville and I had gathered several suggestions from friends, but I had taken my car in for service and since they're not open on Sunday (and close at 5 p.m.), we had to get back so I could pick it up. Instead, we decided to have dinner at ~~The Hill Cafe~~ Three Monkeys which is where we are headed in a few minutes.

Today was a great day, despite some of the disappointments at the wineries. I received tons of text and Facebook messages from friends and family and got to spend lots of time with Brad. Brad's 30th birthday is coming up soon and we might be going to Las Vegas to celebrate, stay tuned!

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T11:09:00.006-04:00

Witch - Circa 1987

Wizard - Circa 1991ish?

Wizard and Bear - Circa 1991ish

Birthday Present - Circa 1993

Birthday Present and Little Red Riding Hood - Circa 1993

In honor of Halloween I thought I'd share some photos of me and my sister through the years. Our mom is awesome and made every single one of our costumes (dad helped too!). We had some pretty cool costume ideas, like the birthday present and the refrigerator (wish I had pictures of that one, it was awesome!) and my mom (and dad) helped turn our ideas into reality.

I have so many good memories of Halloween. First, there was the town Halloween parade (which is part of the reason we came up with some neat costume ideas) where we would parade around the high school auditorium and hope that the judges would award one of us with a trophy. Despite our well-executed costumes, neither one of us ever took home a prize.

Then there was Mischief Night, the night before Halloween. In the North, the night before Halloween means mischievous teens pull pranks like throwing rolls of toilet paper in trees, smashing pumpkins, spraying shaving cream on car windshields and pulling other pranks on friends and neighbors. Although my sister and I never participated in any of the mischief, it was always fun to wake up the next morning to see what had been done. We hated when the vandals got our pumpkins though.

The day/night of Halloween was always fun, too. At our house we had a scary green mask with a wrinkled, wart face and crazy, curly black and white hair we called Mr. Greenhead who we would dress in our parents old clothes and put out on our front porch. When I was really young (see witch photo, circa 1987) my mom would take me trick-or-treating before she left for work in the late afternoon. As my sister and I got older, our dad would take us as soon as it got dark. We would bring back pillowcases full of candy, then dump out the contents on our living room rug and sort through every piece.

Now, Halloween isn't quite what it used to be. The people in my neighborhood don't usually leave their lights on for Trick-or-Treaters (much less decorate their houses), so at most we get 4-6 kids. Older kids are discouraged from Trick-or-Treating, and towns and neighborhoods decide when people should celebrate Halloween if it's during the week or on a Sunday. I'm thankful I grew up in a town that always celebrated Halloween and in a family that did fun Halloween activities together. I hope to continue the tradition when I have kids one day.

UPDATE: Emotional Rollercoaster

2010-10-28T12:07:00.000-04:00

I'm sure many of you are wondering about my friend Lindsay and her little boy Lane, and thankfully I have good news to share. Lindsay is being discharged today after three weeks in the hospital. She will have someone come to her home several times a week to help her with physical therapy and eventually she'll go to an outpatient program. Lane is also doing well, but he'll need to spend at least another one to two weeks in the hospital as he is having a little trouble breathing without extra oxygen. This isn't a cause for concern however, since Lane is considered a premie.

New details have also emerged about the accident. When the ambulance driver first talked to the police officer he told him that he was programming the address of his next stop into his GPS. During his second interview though, he told the officer that he had been having a migraine all day and that he had repeatedly blacked out and that is what happened right before the accident. The officer determined that the more likely scenario is that the passenger of the ambulance was programming the GPS and the driver was watching him and was distracted. It has also been determined that the ambulance's traffic signal had been red for quite some time when he ran through. Despite his distraction, the driver will not be charged with vehicular manslaughter because he did not have the intent to kill, but will probably face a lesser charge, possibly vehicular homicide, which is a felony and can carry jail time.

Lindsay, her husband Eric and their son Lane still have a long road ahead of them but they are getting better every day.

Lucky Number Seven

2010-10-26T15:25:00.000-04:00

This was the surprise waiting for me at the front desk yesterday; beautiful flowers to mark the seven amazing years Brad and I have been together. I love the card he sent: "Roses are red, violets are blue, thanks for putting up with me the past seven years. I love Delilah...oh yeah, and you too!"

We continued our celebration that evening by going to Acacia Mid-Town, a restaurant we've both been wanting to try for quite some time. It just so happens that it's Restaurant Week in Richmond and Acacia's menu is featuring some pretty amazing options. For my appetizer I opted for the duck confit with potato gnocchi, fresh cranberries, local Swiss chard and pomegranate molasses. I've never had duck before and I wouldn't normally be drawn to it, but the other elements of the dish were what drew me in; it was simply delicious. Brad chose the crab fritters which were also very tasty. For the main course, I had the seared sea scallops with fresh pasta, local kale, golden raisins, leek flower, pecans and shrimp butter sauce, while Brad had rock fish with local broccoli puree, sautéed brussel sprouts, sunchokes, roasted pumpkin and red wine sauce. After trying the fresh pasta I don't think I ever want to eat boxed pasta ever again.

With two good dishes under our belts, Brad and I were both looking forward to dessert. I ordered the black forest cake with cherry sherbet while Brad opted for the apple ginger cake. Have you ever seen a cake plate after everyone has had a piece and there are just a few scraps left? That's exactly how my dessert looked, like they put together some of the leftover scraps of black forest cake and arranged them on a nice, fancy plate. The scraps definitely had a nice rich flavor but I would by no means call what I was presented a cake. Brad's apple ginger cake was equally tasty but as he put it, was the size of a postage stamp. Definitely not the way I would have hoped a delicious meal would have ended.

Despite our skimpy desserts, Brad and I had a great time together, like always. I look forward to 70 more years together with Brad, even if he thinks we won't live that long!

Emotional Roller Coaster

2010-10-20T12:16:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted in awhile because Brad and I have been dealing with a tragedy our best friends experienced on October 7. Until now, I haven't been able to decide if it's appropriate for me to share their tragedy or even how to write about it. Thankfully, things are looking up and I feel ready to share what happened.

On October 7, our friend Lindsay, expecting twins in November, was t-boned by an ambulance as she left the mall. Her car was so badly damaged, they had to use the jaws of life to get her out. Despite a broken collar bone, broken left shoulder blade, broken ribs on both sides and a broken pelvis, she is doing well. As a precaution, the doctors delivered her boys, five weeks before they were scheduled to arrive. Lucas weighed 4 lbs. 11 oz. and Lane weighed 4 lbs. 8 oz. Lane is doing really well and is not having any major problems despite being born early. Lucas though, was on Lindsay's left side and absorbed most of the impact. When he was born, Lucas was not breathing and doctors found three fractures in his skull along with bleeding in his brain they could not stop, causing his brain to swell. On October 14, he was removed from life support and passed away a few hours later. Lindsay is now in a hospital separate from Lane where she is undergoing two weeks of intensive physical and occupational therapy. It will likely be months before she is able to walk again and until then will rely on a wheelchair and walker to get around.

I learned of the accident as I left my yoga class the evening of the 7th. I had two missed calls from Brad and a text that said to call him as soon as possible. My initial reaction was that something had happened to Lindsay and Eric's dog Layla. Layla was diagnosed with cancer in early spring, underwent chemo and was doing well up until about three weeks ago. Her vet optimistically gave her one month to live but said realistically she had about one week. Of course my phone call to Brad yielded a much different scenario. At that point all he knew was that Lindsay had been in an accident and that as a precaution they were delivering the babies.

The next morning, before I was awake, Eric called Brad to give him the news that Lucas was unlikely to survive. When I woke up, Brad gave me the news and we decided to drive to the hospital, not only to provide Eric and his and Lindsay's family support, but to help take care of Layla. We didn't tell Eric we were coming but needless to say, when he saw us, he was glad we were there. As you can imagine, the weekend was long and emotional, and we spent a good deal of timing waiting; waiting for news about Lucas and Lane, waiting for news about Lindsay and the surgery to reconstruct her pelvis, just waiting.

My friend Andrea and I were supposed to throw a couple's shower for Lindsay and Eric that weekend and Lindsay, in her groggy, pain-med induced state, happily stated that we could have the shower later, when her and the boys were home. Everyone at work knew I was throwing the shower so when I returned to work on Monday, everyone was excited to know how it went. It was really painful to have to tell them what had happened, and especially the news about Lucas. I didn't realize how much emotional weight I was carrying on my shoulders from the weekend. When I got home from work I was exhausted and after waking up from a nap, I could not stop crying. It was especially difficult because Brad was in Las Vegas for work and there's only so much a dog can do to help you feel better.

Things got better as the week progressed but Thursday was very difficult as it was the day Lucas passed. Eric asked Brad to be both of the boys' God Father which was quite an honor for Brad; I almost cried when he told me. The following Saturday, October 16, Brad and I decided to go back to Northern Virginia. Lindsay and Eric both talked openly about Lucas' death, their immediate and long-term plans for the future and how they were feeling. Lindsay, although still in significant pain, is doing really well. She is able to move herself from her bed, to her wheelchair and back. Although she despises being so far away from Lane, he is motivation for her to work hard in her therapy sessions. Eric has been bonding with Lane by feeding, holding and changing him and taking lots of pictures for Lindsay. It was nice to see both of them in such good spirits and it helped bring me peace, knowing that they're going to be okay.

As Lindsay and Eric continue to heal, more details are emerging about the accident. Lindsay was hit by a Patient Transport Ambulance which had just dropped off a patient and was heading to another call. A witness has come forward to confirm that Lindsay had the green light and police are now looking for a witness to clarify whether or not the ambulance's light was red or to provide any details about what happened on the ambulance's side of the road. As far as I know, charges will be placed against the ambulance driver.

Tomorrow it will be two weeks since the accident happened and a week since Lucas passed away. Even after seeing Lindsay in the hospital and seeing pictures of both Lucas and Lane, it still doesn't seem real. All of this has really made me reconsider the things I gripe about and get angry over. I'm trying to be more patient, to not take things for granted and to consider what really matters in life. I want to learn from Lindsay and Eric who have proven their love for each other and the strength of their relationship, and I want to spoil Lane to bits and pieces.

Bizzaro

2010-10-07T15:05:00.000-04:00

This afternoon I was typing directions for a friend to the Leesburg Corner Premium Outlet Mall (some of the best shopping around if I do say so myself!) and opened up Google Maps to verify the information I was typing was correct. I started to type in my address but accidentally pressed the enter key so only my house number was part of the directions. I thought for sure I'd get an error message from Google but instead, I got this:

That's right. Directions FROM Australia to the outlets in Leesburg. Google Maps estimates such a trip to take 56 days, 5 hours and includes kayaking across the Pacific Ocean in its step-by-step instructions. What a good laugh for a Thursday afternoon!

My Five Minute Rant

2010-10-06T16:32:00.001-04:00

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and there are a variety of campaigns out there promoting the observance. One campaign I find absolutely ridiculous is Facebook's "I Like It" campaign. Basically, women are supposed to update their Facebook status with something like, "I like it on a chair" or "I like it on the bed," referring to where they like to put their purse when they get home. How this has anything to do with breast cancer is beyond me but I can appreciate what Facebook or whoever organized this "stunt" is trying to do; get people curious about what the these strange statuses mean (your mom likes it on the radiator?!). And of course, since so many women on Facebook have been participating, the campaign has started to garner some media attention. Personally, I think the campaign is a waste of time. There's no connection between where a woman places her purse and her breasts, unless of course she likes to rest her purse on her breasts, but that's a discussion for another time. Seriously though, if you want to promote breast cancer awareness, encourage women to update their statuses with messages about performing self-breast exams or telling their mothers and grandmothers to get mammograms. Sure, the "I Like It" campaign is more fun, but it definitely cheapens the cause.

Ghostly image? Coffee table? What is that in my picture?

2010-10-05T16:48:00.001-04:00

This lovely lady is Delilah's best friend, Layla. In the top right-hand corner of the picture you can see a strange round thing that kind of looks like a face or something you might see under a microscope. The big debate between Layla's parents (Eric and Lindsay), Brad and I is whether this "thing" is some sort of ghostly orb, Lindsay and Eric's coffee table (which is made of a sort of wicker material) or something else. Eric and Brad firmly believe it's the coffee table. I find this pretty hard to believe as what's behind the "thing" is the window with the blinds down. I don't think it's humanely possible, at any angle, to have gotten the corner of the coffee table in the picture when the table is to the right and almost behind the ottoman Layla is sitting on. At first, Lindsay agreed with me that it was something else, but after a second look she thinks, although at a strange angle, it's definitely the coffee table. I still, after looking at this picture 10 times and showing it to a couple of co-workers, cannot see how it could possibly be the corner of the coffee table. How could the corner of the coffee table be half way up the window when there is no reflection because the blinds (which are a cloth-like material) are down!?!? Thoughts?

First Pumpkin Spice Latte of the Season

2010-10-01T15:52:00.000-04:00

And it's an absolutely gorgeous fall day with sunshine, blue skies and low humidity after two full days of heavy rain.

A Funny Thing Happened in the Middle of a Rain Storm

2010-09-30T20:55:00.002-04:00

Delilah is a Lab. A Lab mixed with something else, yes, but mostly Lab. She has webbed toes, short hair (that sheds a lot) and loves to go swimming -all typical Lab traits. Oddly enough though, Delilah hates the rain. Usually this means if she needs to go out, I'll open the door, she'll take a step out and then immediately run back inside. Sometimes, if she really has to go, she'll run outside, do her thing and then bolt back into the house. But today, tonight, something happened.

Let me give you a little background. This past weekend while I was tasting beers and cheering on the Hokies, Delilah was getting sick at home with Brad. When Brad and I got back from the airport on Sunday night, we found a mess in Delilah's crate. The next morning we woke up to another mess. When we took her to the vet, they gave her an anti-nausea shot and prescribed her some antibiotics that double as anti-diarrhea relief (a little TMI I know, I'm sorry!). Anyway, so now she's feeling better. She's not vomiting or making messes in the house or in her crate and her appetite has returned. However, because of the medicine, I've noticed she hasn't needed to go out as much after meals. Until tonight.

After eating about half of her dinner, which I had to coax her into doing by pouring in some olive oil, Delilah was sort of milling around the front door and looking at Brad and I, so I let her out. As she usually does when it rains, she walked out and walked right back in again. After a couple more rounds of this, I decided to grab the leash, thinking she'd get excited and maybe take care of business. The minute that leash was on, you would have thought it was a beautiful day. She ran down the front steps, down the driveway and then looked back at me as if to say, well c'mon! So here I am wearing black pants, a maroon jacket, walking a black dog in the middle of a rain storm in the dark of night and here's Delilah, happily trotting down the street. Even though it was dark, and she's not normally shy, she insisted on finding a dark, wooded spot to take care of business. After taking care of said business, Delilah once again trotted down the street, sniffing the grass as if was a beautiful fall evening. Brad was waiting for us with a towel when we returned and a few minutes later she was looking at the door again. But of course when I let her out, she pulled her usual stunt - she walked outside, looked around and came back inside. This went on a couple more times until I got fed up with her and made her lie down on her bed. Now she's asleep on the floor in front of Brad who is playing video games.

Ohhh Delilah.

Boston is for BFFs

2010-09-29T22:26:00.000-04:00

The great thing about best friends is that you can go days, weeks, months, even years without seeing them but as soon as you see them again you can pick up like you were never apart. The fact is, my friends and I are apart a lot - we're all over the country: Boston, Athens, Ohio, Fredericksburg, Va., Fairfax, Va., Columbia, SC, etc., so I really appreciate the time we get to spend together.

This past weekend my friends Kate, McKenzie and I visited our BFF Amy in Boston. McKenzie had just celebrated her birthday and had never been to Boston and it had been over a year since my last visit. We spent Friday tasting beers at Sam Adams Brewery and Harpoon Brewery.

Beginning of the Sam Adam's tour

Barrel room

Look at those delicious pitchers of beer

Excited about tasting some beer!

These are the only photos I got from Harpoon and they weren't even taken outside the brewery, they were taken at a seafood restaurant down the street!

Lobster lady?

Absolutely love them

Saturday was spent cheering on our Hokies as they played Boston College. Thankfully we came away with a win (19-0!!) and had a fabulous time celebrating in downtown Chestnut Hill with some fellow Hokies we met before the game.

View from our seats

Celebrating with fellow Hokies

Amy with our new friends, Jacob and Andy

Our celebration lasted long into the night and we didn't go to bed until 4 a.m. which meant Sunday was spent recovering. Before we headed to the airport, we had a fabulous brunch at Trident Booksellers & Cafe. They have a fabulous Cafe Mocha and apple and brie omelet! Despite the delicious brunch, our experience at the airport was far from fabulous. Due to terrible weather, every single one of our flights was delayed. I was supposed to get in at 10:20 p.m. but I didn't land until 11:30 p.m. To make matters worse, Delilah had gotten sick earlier in the day and when Brad and I got home, she had gotten sick in her crate. By the time we cleaned everything up, it was 1:00 a.m. Needless to say I didn't go to work on Monday but I didn't even get to sleep in because Delilah got sick again. Thankfully the vet was able to give her a shot and some antibiotics and she's feeling much better.

Despite the flight and puppy drama, I had a fabulous weekend with my friends and can't wait to see them all again!

"How Can I Keep From Singing?"

2010-09-17T10:04:00.000-04:00

I don't think many people know that I love to sing. Not the car-windows-rolled-up, music-blasting-so-no-one-can-hear-me kind of singing or the drunk-Top of the Stairs-karaoke kind of singing - I'm talking about serious singing, with a choir or as a soloist. I distinctly remember (and I'm sure my parents wish they could forget), being three years old and singing for the entire two hour car ride home from my grandma's house. In elementary school I started singing with a group called the Kid Company. We were sort of a cabaret-style group that sang mainly show tunes complete with choreography. We would put on an annual performance for our parents and friends as well perform at events, nursing homes, hospitals, etc. in the community. I don't remember what grade I was in but one year I was chosen to sing a solo: "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" from Cinderella. I even had a magic wand I shook around while I sang. In addition to being part of the Kid Company, I auditioned for and performed in various musicals such as Annie, Fiddler on the Roof and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, to name a few. In sixth grade I was selected to play Charlotte in my middle school's production of Charlotte's Web.

Once I got to high school I realized I wasn't really much of an actress. I was never able to land any of the big leads in the shows I auditioned for and I knew it was because I couldn't act. I dunno what it was but I could never really envision myself as someone else. It always felt fake to me. Confident in my singing ability, I continued to sing in my high school's choir. When my family moved to Northern Virginia, I was lucky enough to be part of a choir with an amazing choir director, Pamela Potts. Ms. Potts was one of those teachers who absolutely loved what she did and genuinely cared about the well-being of her students. With her help, encouragement and support, I continued singing with my new high school's chorus and auditioned for the county, district and state choirs. My junior year of high school I was selected to be a part of the all-Virginia state chorus. If I have one regret in my life it's that I didn't participate in this chorus because the concert was the same day as my first prom.

My senior year of high school I was also part of an extra-curricular chorus, the chamber choir. This was a small select group of students who sang during the spring and winter concerts as well as gave performances in the community and at graduation. I will never forget one afternoon I was having a very stressful day. A couple of us sang together for a little while and afterward I felt so amazing, as if all my stress was gone. I realize I probably sound like a complete music nerd, but there's just something about singing for me - my voice with the others, the challenge of singing a difficult song - it's almost therapeutic.

When I went off to college I considered minoring in music, but at ECU the requirements for a music minor were just a few credits less than the major. Instead, I did the next best thing and joined the University Chorale. I really wanted to be in the chamber choir and the director pretty much told I'd be in if I had been a music major. Even so, it was nice to be singing with a group of talented students. After I transferred to Virginia Tech, I had pretty much given up the idea of singing. There wasn't a group similar to ECU's University Chorale and I didn't have the time to participate in a choir for school credit. But then, during my music history class (which I despised), the teacher asked us to fill out a student profile which included information about our experience with music. A few days later I received an e-mail from the teacher inviting me to participate in a small, extra-curricular chorus that sang mostly Gregorian chant-style music. Excited for the opportunity to sing again, I joined (and even received one school credit!). Unfortunately, and maybe it was because it was an extra-curricular group, we were terrible, embarrassing even. To this day I'm embarrassed that Brad came to hear us, we were terrible, a far cry from the type of group I was used to singing with. Needless to say, once the spring semester came around, I was no longer part of the group and I haven't sang with a chorus since.

So why am I writing about all of this? Because after a six year hiatus from choral singing, I have decided to sing again. On Monday, I start rehearsals with the One Voice chorus of Richmond, a community chorus promoting racial reconciliation. I am excited beyond words to get to sing again, to have music in my life again. Two years ago, I auditioned for a choir through the University of Richmond. It had been so long since I had sight read music and sang that way that I didn't do as well as I knew I could do. In fact, the director told me I was average. Average. Average is something I know I am not. So instead of letting it get me down, I took another break and thought about what I wanted to do. Earlier this week, as part of my new project, I listened to some of my old high school chorus CDs. After a couple of listens, I knew what I had to do, so I Googled "Richmond, VA choirs." At first I glanced over One Voice's website, but once I checked it out, listened to their music and discovered I didn't need to audition, I was hooked. I immediately (and excitedly) e-mailed the director who wrote back with equal excitement, welcoming me to the group. My first concert with One Voice will be on November 20 and will feature music from Show Boat, West Side Story and South Pacific - all Broadway musicals. Until then, I am very much looking forward to my weekly dose of music therapy.

Note: The title of this post is a choral piece that was sung by the middle school students selected for the all-district chorus in 2001, the same year I was chosen to sing with the all-Virginia choir. Click here to listen to the Virginia Tech Chamber Singers' performance of the piece.

I went to Blacksburg and all I got was this lousy picture

2010-09-12T20:24:00.001-04:00

Yup, that's the view from my seat I pay a lot of money for and it definitely wasn't worth it this weekend. I don't even want to talk about the Hokies' performance on Saturday, but I will say, I am extremely frustrated and disappointed. At least on Labor Day the weather was incredible but this weekend, in typical Blacksburg (or should I say Bleaksburg) fashion, it was rainy and cold. It was so nasty in fact, we left our seats at the end of the first quarter, watched a bit on the TVs in the south end zone and called it a day a few minutes into the second quarter. Hell, when we got back to our tailgating spot, some JMU kids had taken residence under our tents for beer pong and I joined in with them. Also, can I say that I'm a bit bothered by the people who keep saying "I'm sorry for your loss." Uhh, my team lost a football game, I didn't lose a family member or a pet. Let's keep things in perspective here people!

Needless to say, I'm really not excited about next week's game against ECU. At least I'll get to see my my biological sister and my big sister in my sorority. By the way, some people don't know but I actually went to ECU my freshman year. It was a rough year that got better in the second semester but ultimately I decided Virginia Tech was a better place for me. Even so, ECU will always have a place in my heart.

I've got a busy week ahead of me at work - my boss will be in town and we're getting a visit from the feds which means I need to brush up on our corporate security protocols, blah. I hope it goes by quickly.

It's a Blacksburg weather kind of day

2010-09-09T13:44:00.000-04:00

Absolutely gorgeous. I love fall!

It's a good thing I have a sense of humor

2010-09-08T11:51:00.000-04:00

I came into work today and found this note on my desk. It was written by one of my co-workers whose husband went to the University of Virginia (UVA) or as I like to call them BooVA. If you can't see it clearly the note says "Real Housewives of New Jersey vs. Virginia Tech football. Which one is trashier? Sorry for your loss." I knew immediately the note was from her even though she tried really hard to disguise her handwriting. I mean, no one else in my office watches the Real Housewives so I knew it had to be her! Either way, the note made my morning, even if it did make fun of my beloved Hokies.

Chokies - The Official Football Team of Virginia Tech

2010-09-07T18:23:00.001-04:00

Ugh. I'm not going to sit here and bitch about how terrible the game was last night because it wasn't terrible. We had great seats, the game was exciting and Boise State fans are REALLY nice. We got to the stadium early and parked in the gray lot (where we had to pay) but it worked out really well because there weren't a ton of cars (turns out our section of the lot was actually the handicapped area), there was a path to decent porta potties and it was a short walk to the stadium. We met some Boise State fans who made the trip from Iowa to cheer on their team. They kept wanting to pay us for beer and one woman told us she and the other fans were honored to be watching their team play against the Hokies. Also, there was an Idahoan senatorial candidate giving away free baked potatoes in another part of our lot, how cool is that?! So yeah, despite the fantastic tailgating experience, I am disappointed we couldn't pull off a win. Thankfully, we have an entire season ahead of us and our first home game in Lane Stadium on Saturday against JMU.

By the way, I didn't take ANY pictures before, during or after the game, except for three lousy ones of the field I took on my BlackBerry. Speaking of my BlackBerry, apparently the cell towers in the D.C. area can't handle 90,000 people trying to find each other to tailgate. To top it off, my BlackBerry lost all radio frequency from the time I left the game until about 7:30 a.m. I ended up having to run some random diagnostic I found on my phone to get it to work again and then was overwhelmed by texts, e-mails and BBMs (that's BlackBerry Messages for all you non-BlackBerry people).

Anyway, even though the Hokies broke my heart last night, I'm looking forward to the rest of football season and more amazing fall weather.

5 Reasons I Love Fall

2010-09-02T21:43:00.000-04:00

5. Warm days, cool nights
4. Pumpkin spice lattes
3. Skinny jeans and riding boots
2. Crunchy maroon and orange leaves under foot
1. Virginia Tech football

In keeping with my obsession of all things Virginia Tech, I purchased these fabulous maroon and orange New Balances thanks to Brad who found them super cheap online.

I must admit, they're a little more fuchsia than maroon but they totally work. Also, if I had bought them for exercising, I would have definitely chosen the wide version as they are ridiculously narrow. Even so, they're perfect for football season which begins MONDAY!

LET'S GO.....HOKIES!

This makes me smile

2010-08-29T21:48:00.000-04:00

My new project

2010-08-29T21:41:00.000-04:00

Although I have a six-disc changer in my car, I rarely ever listen to CDs anymore. Part of this has to do with the fact that I have an iPod, but mostly it's because I'm not taking long drives to and from Blacksburg or to and from Northern Virginia much any more. Also, a couple of months ago, when I thought I was getting a new car, I took all of my CDs out of my car and put them in my home office. Since then, they've been sitting on my bookshelf collecting dust. With so many good CDs forced to serve as homes for dust bunnies, I've decided I will make listening to each one of them again my new project. We're going to be getting more staff in our suite at work within the next couple of weeks, so this will be a great way to block out all the new noise coming my way. So far, I've listened to Nick Lachey (don't judge me, I had to throw the CD away anyway because it was all jacked up), the first (and best in my opinion) Britney Spears album and one other that I can't remember right now because that was on Friday and it's now Sunday evening. (I started this post Friday but I didn't finish it until tonight by the way) Anyway, look for more updates as I hit milestone listens (like my first 50 CDs listened to) and rediscover some great CDs. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Remember that creepy guy from the gym...

2010-08-24T20:26:00.000-04:00

...the one who said he thought I was in high school right after he asked me if I had any kids? Well his creepiness has continued. Last week when I got back from vacation, I jokingly asked him if he missed me and he came close to me and said, "you're not my only girlfriend here you know, but you could be, but that's not up to me." Eww. Then today he rolled up to class in jorts. JORTS! Normally he wears inappropriately short running shorts (and our instructor calls him Ken doll), but I guess he forgot his workout attire today and was forced to wear jorts, gross. They were light blue when we started class and dark blue when we finished. Disgusting. Also, he thought my co-worker was my sister although we look nothing alike. When I told him my sister was also blond but lives in Greensboro, North Carolina he said, "why? does she work in a textile mill?" Uhh no, she works for a t.v. station jerk! This guy is seriously a creeper. I don't usually take my phone into the gym but I might next week so I can snap a pic of this creep!

Stowecation: Seven Amazing Days in Vermont

2010-08-22T21:59:00.001-04:00

I'm back! Well, I've been back in Virginia since last week but as with the end of every vacation, the trip back to reality has been pretty crazy! Not only am I dealing with work stuff, I'm also planning a baby shower from afar and trying to get a website up and running for my sorority's alumnae association. Anyway, I laugh every time I see people's reaction when I tell them Vermont is where Brad and I went for vacation, like it's some strange place. Everyone's been asking me to post pictures and tell them all about our trip, so sit back and read as I re-live 7 fantastic days in Vermont.

Saturday, August 7
To break up the 12 hour drive from Richmond to Stowe, Brad and I started our journey on Thursday, dropping Delilah off at our friends house in Northern Virginia and spending the night there and then staying with friends in Brooklyn on Friday. We left Brooklyn at a decent hour on Saturday, around 9 a.m., but so did every other New Yorker wanting to get the hell outta town. Ugh, traffic out of the city is miserable! Anyway, it took us about 6 hours to get to Stowe. I was so excited that we had finally made it, I forgot to take pictures of the Inn and our room! After getting settled in we decided on Piecassos for dinner, a fabulous pizza joint about a mile or two from downtown Stowe. My pesto pizza not only made a fantastic dinner, it was perfect for lunch the next day!

Sunday, August 8
In doing my research for our trip, I found the Inn's website extremely helpful. It was there I found recommended hiking trails we decided we would tackle our first day. Feeling ambitious, we had planned to hike Pinnacle Trail, Moss Glen Falls and then ride a gondola to the top of Mount Mansfield and hike down. The Inn's website describes the Pinnacle Point trail as "fairly gradual for the most part, though there is a short rocky section as you near the top." This may be so for a local but for Brad and I, the trail felt like an almost vertical climb! Despite the difficult terrain, the view from the top was absolutely amazing and the chilly breeze felt fantastic. Needless to say, the 2.8 mile hike was pretty exhausting and we completely crashed when we got back to the Inn. Check out the pictures from our first adventure!

Peak-a-boo!

Brad in the random hut we found

You can't tel from the picture, but the trail was pretty steep

Brad wasn't the only one feeling this way!

First overlook point

Pinnacle Point - We made it!

Beautiful view despite the clouds

Monday, August 9
Despite feeling a little sore from hiking Pinnacle Trail, we decided to tackle Moss Glen Falls and the hike down Mount Mansfield on Monday. The directions to Moss Glen Falls on the Inn's website were a little iffy and at first we weren't sure if we were in the right place, especially because we didn't see any other cars in the parking area when we arrived. This turned out to be a good thing as I'll describe later on. Anyway, the trail was pretty overgrown and we had to walk through some marshy areas where we saw two snakes and a frog. It only took us about 15 minutes to get to the falls (the Inn's website said about 45 minutes) but what we saw was spectacular! Check out some of the pictures below. By the way, the Inn's website also mentioned the trail was not well marked but it was obvious and to stay to the left of the water. Brad and I toyed with idea of walking up past the falls in case there was an even more spectacular view elsewhere but without any clearly defined path, it made me nervous to venture into the Vermont wilderness with nothing more than two bottles of water and a couple of granola bars. On our way back to the car we ran into several groups of people which made for some awkward moments, especially through the marshy area where there was only two 2x4s to walk on.

Pretty meadow at the beginning of the trail

Getting closer!

Moss Glen Falls

Since our hike to the falls was a short one we decided to get right to our hike down Mount Mansfield. We hiked down because Mount Mansfield is the highest point in Vermont and hiking up probably would have killed me haha. We took the ski gondola to the top of the mountain (although the not the summit, it's too rocky up there) and spent some time taking pictures. It looked as though a storm was about to blow in which made for some neat pictures. Check out the picture below - it was cloudy where we stood but the sun covered the rest of Stowe and the surrounding areas! I have to admit, I didn't enjoy this hike as much as the others. Brad and I stuck to the ski trails and the constant pounding on our legs and knees due to the steepness of the mountain really started to wear on both me and Brad. We stopped a few times and took pictures and talked about how fun it would be to come back and ski some of the trails. As nerdy as it sounds, I even tried to envision what it would be like if we had been skiing at that moment instead of hiking. It took us about two hours to finish the hike and when we were done, I was pretty glad to be done with hiking.

Starting our trek up the mountain on the gondola

Top of Mount Mansfield - Check out that view!

Storm rolling in

Trail to the summit - Looks pretty impossible!

About halfway down the mountain

After the hike we decide to pay the $25 to take the toll road to the top of Mount Mansfield. As it turns out, in the winter the toll road actually serves as a "green" ski trail. The road was really steep and pretty windy but unfortunately there wasn't too much to see, especially since it was cloudy. Here are a few pictures.

The top of Mount Mansfield

Ski trails in the distance at 3,602 ft. above sea level

I kept imagining myself skiing down the mountains

Since it was getting pretty cloudy after traveling up and down the toll road, we took showers and then made our way to the Cabot Creamery Annex. Cabot Creamery makes some delicious cheddar cheese as well as several other varieties we got to try while we were there. All those samples turned out to be my lunch and were very filling. Not only did they have cheese, there were crackers and dips and wine tasting. The wine came from Snow Farm Vineyard about an hour and a half from Stowe. We tried some of their reds and whites as well as some of their red and white ice wines. For those of you who don't know, ice wine is made from grapes that are still frozen when they're harvested. I didn't learn until Wednesday that Virginia does in fact make ice wine. I just figured it never got cold enough, but more about that later. Anyway, because of the short growing season in Vermont their red wines aren't as strong as reds from other states. I'm usually a big fan of red wine but I didn't much care for this winery's red. I did, however, fall for one of their white wines which we ended up buying along with a cheddar shaker (think Parmesan cheese that comes in those shaker bottles), maple syrup, a maple syrup recipe book and a dog treat for Delilah.

After a brief thunderstorm, Brad and I made our way to Ben and Jerry's but it was late in the afternoon and packed with the next available tour almost 2 hours away. Neither of us were "feelin' it" so we headed back to the Inn.

Tuesday, August 10
On Tuesday we had originally planned to go to Montreal, but after two days of hiking and some rainy weather in the forecast for later in the week, we decided to rent bikes and tackle the 10 mile round trip bike trail in town. This was the first time I had been back on a bike since mine was stolen off my front porch in seventh grade, and it felt great to be "back in the saddle" as they say. The bike trail is paved and is pretty easy although going over some of the wood slat bridges was a little scary because they're so narrow, especially when other people on bikes or people with strollers are making their way over. Our rental was for a half day, about four hours and we took our time, taking about 2 hours or so to ride the entire trail from start to finish with a few stops in between. I had spotted another trail off of Main Street earlier in the week we thought about trying but between the hiking the two days before and the 10 mile ride on the trail, Brad and I were pretty beat.

Our bikes for the afternoon

Helmet heads!

Nearing the end of the trail

Cornfields and mountains

A touch of fall creeping in

Last stop of the day

With the whole afternoon ahead of us, we decided to try our luck again at Ben & Jerry's. Of course when we got there, the next available tour time was an hour and a half away. Thankfully they let us buy tickets for a later time so we decided on 4:30 p.m. and made our way to Green Mountain Coffee. On a side note, Brad gave me a hard time during our trip for checking into different venues on Foursquare. For those of you who are not familiar, Foursquare is a location-based social networking application that lets you tell your friends where you are. Anyway, I checked into Ben & Jerry's in the parking lot and lo and behold I was rewarded with free admission! I know the admission isn't pricey ($3) but still, I thought it was cool that I was rewarded for my check-in. Tickets in hand for the 4:30 p.m. tour, Brad and I made our way to Green Mountain Coffee, Brad's favorite coffee roaster. The visitors center is housed in an old train station and the main lobby is set up for a self-tour. In different places around the lobby there were big plastic coffee beans you could slide over to reveal an interesting fact about coffee, which I thought was pretty neat. There was also a computerized quiz you could take to determine your coffee personality. After our tour we moved into the retail shop. I bought some coffee for my dad, a pretty recycled glass star key chain from Ghana and some iced coffee. When we arrived at Green Mountain coffee I had checked into Foursquare and had sent my location to my Twitter friends. While we sipped our coffee outside on the rocking chairs, I got a message on Twitter from Green Mountain welcoming me. Once again, I loved the fact that another business was interacting with me through Foursquare/Twitter. Check out some pictures from our trip to Green Mountain Coffee.

Sign near the front porch

Front porch - Around the corner lots of people were working on their laptops

To waste some more time before our Ben & Jerry's tour, we took a short drive through and outside of town to see the sites. Unfortunately, we were sort of in the middle of nowhere and there wasn't much to see so we headed to the tour. We ended up being about 15 minutes early so we spent a few minutes taking pictures, check them out below.

Moo cows!


I have no words, just laughs

I actually had been a tour of Ben & Jerry's before but it had been so long I couldn't remember what we were going to see. Unfortunately, they don't allow pictures of their factory (you know, so Haagen-Dazs doesn't try to steal any secrets) so I don't have anything I can share from that part of our trip. I will tell you though, their sample of the day was chocolate chip mint, my favorite ice cream flavor, which was absolutely delicious. Brad on the other hand wasn't a fan so he bought himself a different flavor from the cafe outside. While we were in line, I spotted a guy with a Virginia Tech tee shirt. I've been known to talk to random Hokie strangers, so of course I had to say something, especially since we were 1,000 miles from Virginia. As it turns out, he is a Hokie who now lives in New York. We talked for a few minutes about the campus and how it's changed over the years which made for an interesting conversation. After we finished our ice cream (I got chocolate fudge brownie frozen yogurt which is just as good as the ice cream), we called it a day and headed back to the Inn to figure out what to do for dinner.

Wednesday, August 11
Wednesday was a day I was really looking forward to because we had made reservations to go kayaking down the Lamoille River to the Boyden Valley Winery. We needed to leave the Inn by 1:00 p.m. so we slept in and had a lazy morning so we would have plenty of energy to make it down the river. When we arrived, we were greeted by two college kids who were happy to talk to some young kayakers. After a brief lesson, we suited up with our life jackets and carried our kayak to the water. Right before we got in, I spotted a young boy with a UVA hat (boo!). Once again, since we were 1,000 miles from Virginia, I had to ask if he and his parents were from Virginia, which they were (Charlottesville). We chatted for a few more minutes and then started our four mile journey down the river.

The college kids had told us that if we let the river do all of the work it would take us about three hours to get to the winery, if we paddled vigorously it would take us about an hour and if we did somewhere in between, it would take us about an hour and a half to two hours. I wanted to do the in between thing, paddling a little bit and letting the river take us a little bit so Brad and I took turns paddling and cruising. It was so incredibly beautiful that day with a bright blue sky and puffy white clouds, the water clear and cool beneath us. The ride was relatively easy but my arms felt like they were on fire. Side note: before we left for vacation I discovered an in-grown hair on my knee, a result of shaving. This said hair had become infected and therefore I had to take an antibiotic on which I was informed I should avoid prolonged exposure to the sun. Unfortunately, my brain was also on vacation this day and I completely forgot about sunscreen. About an hour into our trip, my arms were bright red and literally felt like they were on fire. I would be miserable the rest of the week because of my lapse in judgment, oops! Despite my burning arms, I was really enjoying myself but I was curious about how much longer we had. Brad and I both agreed we probably had about a half hour to 45 minutes left, but moments later I looked up and saw a tent at the same time Brad said, "we're here!" I have to admit, I was a little disappointed the trip was over so quickly but I was excited to taste some wine.

After a short tour of the winery, we tasted the different wines and were treated to some delicious Vermont cheddar cheese, French bread and pretzels. I fell in love with a $60 bottle of red dessert ice wine which I decided to buy. It wasn't until later that afternoon when I posted a picture of the bottle on Facebook that I learned Virginia does make ice wine. Although I have to say, I don't think it's as good as Vermont's seeing that it rarely gets below zero in Virginia. Once we tasted all the wines, the college boys took us by bus (powered by vegetable oil) back to our cars. Check out pictures from our kayaking and wine adventure below.

All the kayaks ready for the trip

The river

Making our way to the winery

We made it!

The vineyard

Entrance to the winery

Outside the winery/tasting room

Thursday, August 12
When I woke up on Thursday, I wasn't feeling well, like I was getting the beginnings of a summer cold. This was the same day we decided to get up early and head to Montreal. Brad woke up extra early and went to the Bagel Stowe (haha get it?) to get us breakfast and we were on the road by 9:00 a.m., a little later than we had anticipated. It's about a two hour drive to the border and about 30 minutes from the border to Montreal. Our first stop was to a large, outdoor farmers market called Jean-Talon Market in Montreal's Little Italy. There was so much beautiful, fresh produce and Brad told me everything smelled amazing (darn my stuffy nose!). I wish I had taken some pictures but I didn't because the Jean-Talon Market is locals spot and I really didn't want to look out of place. With a stuffy nose and no appetite, we didn't stick around long and decided we should probably find an ATM. Fortunately, Bank of America is a partner of Scotia Bank so we were able to get cash without a huge ATM fee. Also, the exchange rate while we were in town was almost 1:1 which was great. After grabbing some cash we attempted to visit Montreal's modern art museum. Unfortunately, no Google Maps nor Google Street view could help us find the place. Not only did we endure a ton of traffic on our way, I was feeling crappy and starting to get frustrated.

With little success at the market and museum, we made our way through traffic-heavy downtown Montreal to Old Montreal and the waterfront. We were able to find a parking lot which made it much easier (considering it's very difficult to parallel park a pick-up truck) for Brad and started exploring. Our first stop in Old Montreal was the Basilique Notre-Dame de Montreal and it was absolutely gorgeous (see below). We took a tour to learn about the church's history and discovered a smaller, though still incredible chapel inside the basilica behind the pulpit, amazing! Check out some of my favorite pictures.

Outside Notre-Dame

The photo doesn't do it justice

Being artsy with the memorial candles

Check out that detail - 14k gold foil everywhere!

A little blurry but so beautiful

The chapel behind the pulpit

There were fleur-de-lis everywhere

Pretty memorial candles

We spent at least an hour at the basilica and afterward I was starving and feeling pretty crappy. Brad and I had an 8:30 p.m. dinner reservation but at that point, I was really ready to head back to Vermont. Unfortunately, this was no ordinary reservation and we felt really bad about the possibility of canceling. Our reservation at Au Pied de Cochon (which means the leg of the pig in French) was made by the former owner of the establishment, a friend of Brad's friend, Jonathan. This restaurant has been featured on Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" and one of the staff has his own show on Food Network Canada called "Wild Chef," so there was no way we could not go. After debating for 20 minutes about what we were going to do, we decided we'd just go to the restaurant and see if they could try to fit us in. Thankfully, with the help of Brad's name dropping, they seated us right away at the bar. Our waitress was nice but I think she could tell we were a bit uncomfortable with the menu which was in French, so she sent over a manager to explain everything to us. We started with a liquid fois gras (fattened duck liver) that I wasn't able to taste because of my stuff nose, but Brad said it tasted like the gravy they serve with Salisbury steak. Next it was on to our main course: I had the seared tuna and Brad had the pot pie. Half way through dinner my nose decided it would clear up a bit and I was able to taste the absolutely fantastic food we both had. Both of us stuffed, we decided to skip dessert, a decision now I hate to admit I regret, paid our bill and headed back to Vermont.

Friday, August 13
We decided to spend our last full day in Burlington, a 25 minute drive west of Stowe. I was exhausted and feeling incredibly crappy when we got back to the Inn the night before, but I had slept extremely well and was rested and ready for the day. Before we started our last adventure, we stopped back at Green Mountain coffee so I could pick up a key chain for my sister and get some more iced coffee. My poison of choice was the wild blueberry iced coffee and it was delicious. Fully caffeinated, we made our way to the Magic Hat Brewery for some beer tasting. The brewery was a lot smaller than I had imagined and they only hold guided tours on the hour beginning in the afternoon. We took the shorter, less informative self-tour, checked out their very cool gift shop and tasted some beer. One of my favorites, Single Chair Pale Ale, is only sold in Vermont. Luckily, we learned while we were in town that Magic Hat had been sold to a larger distributor so I'm hoping we'll get some of the Single Chair ale in Virginia soon! Check out some of the pics from the Magic Hat Brewery!

Yay beer!

Bottling station

Random signs and packaging section

After touring the brewery, we met up with Brad's friend Dave for lunch. Since we made it to Church Street (the hip area of downtown) before Dave, we stopped at Old Navy where I picked up a pair of a jeans and a top for $25, tax free! Purchase in hand, we met Dave who took us to an Irish pub where we had some awesome food and drinks. Stuffed, Dave took us on a mini tour of downtown Burlington and down to Lake Champlain where he bought Brad a Creamie (sounds inappropriate but it's what Vermonters call soft-serve ice cream which is apparently really good). Remember my burnt arms from Wednesday's kayaking adventure? Yeah, they felt like they were on fire this day as well but thankfully, Dave took us to a beautifully shaded park right on Lake Champlain, a short walk from the Creamie stand. It was so nice to sit outside and not sweat and feel disgusting and we spent a good hour and a half talking about everything from college and drinking to weddings and babies. Check out some of the pictures below:

Lake Champlain boat dock

Burlington waterfront

Park beside Lake Champlain

Check out the mountains in the distance, just beautiful

By the time the last photo above was taken, we had been talking for almost two hours and Dave needed to call it a day. Brad and I said our goodbyes and headed back to Stowe for our last dinner in town.

Saturday, August 14
With a 10 hour drive ahead of us, Brad and I woke up at 4:00 a.m., checked out and got on the road. Knowing we would encounter ridiculous traffic around NYC, we opted for a route around the city which turned into quite an adventure. Everything was going well until we got to New Jersey (go ahead, insert your crude Jersey joke here). The route took us through Princeton, which is beautiful, but there were stoplights and traffic everywhere. When we finally made it to 95 south, we were in Pennsylvania and heading toward Philadelphia. I guess it wasn't the worse route we could have taken but we ended up being in the car for almost 12 hours. Thankfully, the Turpins had an ice cold beer waiting for us when we arrived.

A couple of observations from Vermont:

Stowe/Vermont is the land of 1,000 Toyota Tacomas. Brad and I started a game, kind of like the punch buggy/VW game, where we would yell out TACOMA every time we saw one. At one point there were probably 10 within a five minute period.
You can find/buy maple syrup almost anywhere in Vermont.
Vermonters do not stop at stop signs; they execute the rolling stop maneuver.
Women do not wear bras in Montreal (or in Brooklyn).
On our first night we took a walk through town and found a super affectionate cat Brad named "Stowe-cat." We looked for Stowe-cat several other times throughout the week but we never saw him again.

Our vacation to Stowe was Brad and my first vacation together in the almost seven years we've been together and I couldn't have asked for a better trip. I hope you enjoyed reading about our adventure as much as we enjoyed living it.

What I've Been Up To Lately

2010-08-02T22:46:00.000-04:00

I can't believe the month of July went by so fast. I feel like it was just a few days ago I was writing about my memories of July 4th. Since I've been so busy and I haven't been posting as much as I've wanted to about all the things I've been up to, I'm dedicating this post to the month of July.

Michael Buble Concert
At the beginning of July, my friend Janice invited me to see Michael Buble at the Richmond Coliseum. I'm familiar with most of Mr. Buble's songs but really only those on the radio. Other than his radio songs and a couple of covers, I was a little lost during the concert. It wasn't bad I'm glad I didn't pay for the tickets. He did have a great opening act though, Naturally 7, who sang acappella which is one of my favorite styles of music and we had pretty darn good seats!

Janice and I before the concert

Well hello Mr. Buble

Visit From a BFF
In mid-July one of my BFFs, Amy Slife, came for a weekend visit (she's the thinker in "Thoughts from Comm Ave.) We spent her first day in town sampling the amazing restaurants in Richmond. It started with brunch at Kitchen 64 with Amy, her sister Leah, her sister's boyfriend, our friend Jenny and myself. I had the French toast which was amazing and I think it was the pitcher of Mimosas that really got us going! We moved from Kitchen 64 to Short Pump's newest wine bar, the Wine Loft (after a brief stop at HomeGoods of course). The atmosphere and decor really added to the ambiance but I felt the wine was overpriced. Leah's boyfriend was nice enough to pick up the tab that time! Our next stop was my all time favorite, Cafe Caturra. We sampled a couple different wines and their Wine Fare, Olives & Almonds and Breads & Spreads, delish! Our last stop of the night was to my house where we played Rock Band until 3:00 a.m. I'm pretty sure we played almost every song on the play list. On Sunday, Amy, Leah and I saw Counting Crows at Innsbrook After Hours. Despite the two hour wait, the show was a blast.

Amy and I at Cafe Caturra

Leah and her boyfriend

Miss Teen Virginia Pageant
The same weekend Amy was in town, Brad's niece Abigail participated in her first pageant. Since I often like to watch Toddlers & Tiaras on TLC, I was definitely intrigued. (However, I was definitely not intrigued by the $20 ticket price.) Unfortunately (or fortunately) I had to leave early because of the concert but I was able to snap a few pictures and take a few videos before I left. As it turned out, Abigial received second runner up, not bad for her first pageant!

Brad and I showing our support

Abigail in her casual wear (she's second from the right)

(Video is of Abigial during her first Q&A)

Welcome Home/Birthday Party and Visit to Lake Anna
This past weekend was quite busy. Friday night one of my BFFs, June, held a party for her husband Jason who's been in Texas for the past couple of months for some military training. She decided to have a party for him which sort of doubled as a birthday party for her. While I was there I met a guy named Kyle who looks a lot like the infamous Brody Jenner. We busted out some of our favorite college drinking games like beer pong and flip cup (which the girls totally dominated) and even some card games like Kings (on an iPad). Despite the three hours of traffic I sat in to get there, I had a great time. On Saturday, I spent another three hours traveling to Lake Anna to see my friend Meghan. Her and her husband just had a baby, Cadence, in May and it's been that long since I've seen her. It was so great to be back at the lake again, despite the cloudy skies, and to have the opportunity to play with Cadence.

Me and Kyle, a.k.a. Brody Jenner

Lake Anna

Cadence

What's Ahead

I've been talking about how much I'm looking forward to my vacation with Brad and now it's finally here! I'm going to try and post occasionally while we're away but if not, I'll have plenty to share when we return.

Love life

2010-07-29T12:32:00.000-04:00

I'm sorry for three posts in a row, I'm just blog happy today and keep finding awesome things like this picture/quote from my girls at Two Hippie Chic. Thanks ladies!

Hot out?

2010-07-29T12:28:00.000-04:00

Haha, I had to steal this from one of my BFFs, Carolyn, who posted this on her blog this morning. Love it!

Boyden Winery Canoe & Kayak Trip

2010-07-29T12:21:00.002-04:00

I am super pumped because I just booked a tandem kayak river and winery tour on the Lamoille River in Vermont! Our three hour tour will begin at Umiak Outfitters Outpost and will end with a wine tasting and tour of the Boyden Valley Winery. The guy I talked to said we should bring shoes we don't mind getting wet and maybe a change of clothes to leave in the car, just in case. I really hope a change of clothes won't be necessary. I'm think this means I probably shouldn't bring my camera (or camerah as Jenna says on 30 Rock) or my phone which means I won't get to share what promises to be the beautiful scenery. Bummer. Also, my mom mentioned they limit the amount of alcohol you can drink at the winery since you have to kayak or canoe back, but I asked the guy while I was making the reservation and he said they bring you back. SCORE! This is why they call it a vacation. Five more work days until we leave!

A Whole Buncha Stuff

2010-07-26T12:48:00.000-04:00

Richmond had another Heatpocalypse this weekend with temperatures reaching a record-setting 105 degrees both days. Up until this point the heat really hasn't bothered me but over the last few days the combination of high heat and humidity coupled with the ridiculously high pollen count has made breathing somewhat cumbersome. I can't breathe that well out of my nose because it's stuffy and I get winded when I breathe through my mouth. Thank you global warming, allergies and asthma.

On Saturday, the Turpins returned from their annual vacation at Holden Beach. I don't think I've talked about them much here yet but they are the couple we do everything with. Tailgate at football games, go to wine-tasting events with, go on vacation with, etc. However, things are changing a bit because Lindsay is pregnant with twin boys! She's six months along and looks absolutely incredible, especially considering she's carrying two babies. Anyway, we've been watching their fur-baby Layla for the past week. She's great and her and Delilah get along really well. Although I have to admit, even though I don't think Delilah minded having Layla around, I can tell she's really glad she doesn't have to compete for our attention anymore. One of our favorite things to do when the Turpins come into town is to go to 3 Monkeys. Not only do they have a fabulous drink menu, their food is delicious, particularly their three cheese grilled cheese. Yum! It comes with bacon and tomato and I always ask for no bacon and Lindsay always asks for no tomato. After dinner the boys wanted to run to the ABC store to get some Wild Turkey American Honey (nice name, eh?!). I really do not enjoy bourbon, whiskey and the like, but I actually didn't mind the taste of American Honey. At first it tastes like bourbon, YUCK, but the after taste is cinnamon and honey and absolutely delicious.

On Sunday I was crazy enough to go to the pool with the lovely Jenny Banner and it was surprisingly very relaxing. Of the 3 hours we spent there, I think we were in the pool about 2.5 hours, it was just too hot to really lay out and relax. Also, can I talk about the fratastic party that was started while we were there? It was like all of a sudden all of these fratty looking guys showed up with burgers, guacamole and drinks and basically took over the pool Apparently they're all employed by Vector home security systems for the summer and the company rented out a bunch of the apartments (oh ahem, excuse me, flats) at West Broad Village for them to live. This of course is all according to the lifeguard, Blair, who would prefer to have a real job at a bank but he just moved back into town from Chicago where he spent the past three years. Also, can I just say that I find it incredibly inappropriate to wear a thong/boy bottom-type bikini bottom to a public pool? I'm glad you think you look hot and maybe you like being stared at by creepy old men and frat boys but really, please keep that sexy bathing suit for when you're at home.

Anyway, in more exciting news, when Jenny and I got back from the pool we learned that our girl Cax, one of the hippies from Two Hippie Chic, is engaged! Her and her boyfriend, well I guess now fiance, went to Jackson Hole this weekend where he proposed at their campsite. Check out her blog post, it's really cute and he did a great job with the ring!

That's all for now. I have a busy work week ahead of me. My mantra for getting me through this week is "9 work days until vacation." I can't wait!

Random is the only way to describe it...

2010-07-21T20:40:00.000-04:00

I saw two of the most random things today - a squirrel lounging on my porch step and a kid at the gas station pumping gas without shoes....I'm so glad it's almost the weekend.....

You Talk Too Much

2010-07-20T12:28:00.000-04:00

For as long as I can remember, I have loved to talk. As a kid, I would make tapes of myself talking to my sister or singing songs from my favorite movies and TV shows. On my report cards in elementary school, all of the teachers would say I was a great student and contributed in class but I was chatty with the other students. I will never forget my middle school ski trip to Camp Bernie in New Jersey. All of the girls were in bunk beds and we had been up half the night talking about all the things middle school girls talk about. We had already been warned once by a teacher to quiet down and I had made an honest effort to stop talking. Of course, a few minutes later, I was the one being sent out to the main room to sleep by myself on the couch. Looking back, I probably got a better night's rest that way but I really hated the fact I was singled out as the biggest talker when there were definitely some other girls who were just as bad.

Today my "problem" with talking was reiterated. Apparently, I chat too much with a co-worker in the suite down from mine. I can't say I was surprised when this came up in conversation, I do venture over there periodically throughout the day, but I try to keep my conversations limited to the morning when I fill up our water pitcher. It probably doesn't help that our CEO has a direct view from his office to the front desk which is where said co-worker sits. I'm not trying to pass blame or down play the situation, but given the fact I'm not allowed to use work e-mail for non-work related business (thank you government) and the fact that it's very easy to hear what I'm saying if I call her on the phone (thank you small office of cubicles), sometimes our conversations are better suited to in-person encounters.

The truth is, my chattiness, my love to talk is a part of me and I can't change who I am. In the past I've done my best NOT to talk, to keep quiet. After a few minutes though, people would start to ask me what was wrong. They'd ask if I was upset, what was bothering me. It was nothing, just my attempt at being quiet.

I'm not mad or upset about what I was told today. Like I said, I wasn't really surprised when it was brought up. It did make me realize though that you can never be too comfortable. You always need to be aware of your actions and how people perceive you. I'll keep that in mind the next time I fill up the water pitcher.

Fast Company's Influence Project

2010-07-14T14:47:00.000-04:00

I was looking through my Twitter feed this afternoon and came across a tweet from @prebynski about Fast Company's Influence Project. When I clicked on his link, I was taken to this really cool interface of photos of people from across the country. Some pictures were pretty large, others were smaller and I learned that the size of the photo depends on how influential you are. I tweeted back to @prebynski letting him know I thought it was pretty cool and after a bit more browsing around I decided to sign up. You can check out my profile here: http://fcinf.com/v/bapm.

A bit later @prebynski thanked me for responding and made a good point: isn't this just a popularity contest? According to Fast Company's website, "influence is not only about having the most friends or followers. Real influence is about being able to affect the behavior of those you interact with, to get others in your social network to act on a suggestion or recommendation." Interestingly, the way you find out how much influence you have is by asking people to click on your personal URL. I don't know but it seems pretty clear to me that if you have thousands of "friends" or "followers" you're either pretty popular or an expert in a particular field or, you have too much time on your hands. Either way, the more people who click your link the more influential you're considered. So if I could get 100 people to donate $100 to a charity (that's $10,000) I think I'd be considered pretty influential. But what if I could only get 10 people to click on my link? What's more important, that I got 100 people to donate to a charity or that I got people to look at some company's experiment?

I'm very curious to see where this goes and what Fast Company does with the data. Oh, did I mention I'll get my picture in the November issue of their magazine...

Success, Such Sweet Relief!

2010-07-13T16:23:00.000-04:00

I am happy to say this afternoon's Webinar was a success! Despite a few participants who were unable to view the slides, overall, everyone seemed to enjoy the presentation. Even my boss called from Northern Virginia to tell me she thought the presentation went well. Ahh! Now I can relax and enjoy time at the gym with Elizabeth.

Freaking Out...

2010-07-13T11:43:00.001-04:00

I'm having a moment of complete hysteria and feel compelled to write, hoping it will make me feel better. While I realize my hysterics are completely unwarranted for the situation, I'm generally a nervous person when something big or important is about to happen. Today, it's the first of three training Webinars I set up with internationally known, communications measurement guru Angela Sinickas, ABC. While normally this wouldn't be all that big of a deal, it seems the whole process of setting up the training has been quite a mess. First, it started with the flyer promoting the training. Although it had been proofread about 10 times by two different people, I failed to include the time of each Webinar so I had to send out a corrected version which made me feel like a complete idiot.

A few weeks later, our finance director informed me that trainings such as this that cost over a certain amount have to be cleared by the Office of Management and Budget and it usually takes 30 days to obtain that clearance. No one told me this when I was setting everything up and even now I have no idea if we actually obtained the clearance we need. Thankfully, we have two more Webinars through the end of the month which should give us the time we need for clearance.

Then there was a problem I discovered yesterday with the link to the Webinar. Apparently, the organization we use to host our Webinars has two different locations where presentations are hosted. One location is for contract-related presentations and the other is for non-contract related presentations. In April, we used this same organization for a training and used one of their staff as the presenter. Not knowing there were two locations for Webinars, I listed the location that was used for the April training (which is considered a contract-related training) on the flyer for today's training (which is considered a non-contract related training). It wasn't until yesterday when I checked to see if our presentation had been loaded that I noticed it wasn't there. This was of course AFTER I had sent out a reminder to our listserv, so once again, I felt like an idiot. Then while in the shower this morning I realized I had to set up the teleconference so we would have operator assistance and the call recorded. As soon as I got to work I was able to set that up with no problem which was quite a relief. Also, I was confident the first Webinar was going to be on Methods of Communications Measurement but when I received the slides this morning, it seems the training is focused on creating appropriate communications plans based on research. I knew I should have confirmed with Angela before sending out that damn flyer.

Sigh. I'm starting to feel a bit better now that I've gotten this all out, but I'm still nervous. Normally our director is the person who introduces our speakers on these big national calls but today, her and my manager are in Northern Virginia at our marketing and communications sub-contractor getting feedback on our national branding plan. Our other communications coordinators are out of town so it's up to me to start the call and introduce Angela. Thankfully, I've had some time to write up a little blurb that I can read and I'll be dialing into the teleconference 15 minutes early to make sure Angela is all set up. Hopefully, this will all go off without a hitch.

On a positive note, this has been a fantastic learning experience for me. I've learned I need to slow down and get my ducks in a row before moving on to each next step. I need to think about the questions I'm going to ask and what information I need to move on to the next step and not be afraid to ask more questions.

Thanks for listening to momentary freak out. I feel much better.

Remember When I Said I Don't Like to Wish Time Away...?

2010-07-07T14:19:00.001-04:00

Well, when it's 110 degrees outside I absolutely want it to be August and for me to be in Vermont where it's cool!

Happy Birthday America!

2010-07-04T09:55:00.000-04:00

I have very fond memories of July 4. Growing up in Caldwell, NJ (population about 7,500) my family and I always attended the fireworks celebration on the football field of the town's only high school, James Caldwell High School. Families would bring blankets and picnic baskets, the concession stands sold hot dogs and hamburgers, and high school kids trying to make a buck would sell glow sticks and bracelets. It was definitely a family event.

The one thing I always loved about fireworks at the high school (and appreciate more now that I'm older) is that it was the one thing the whole town did together. You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who didn't go. Maybe it's a small town thing. Now, living in Richmond, there aren't many events that evoke that small town feel. While there is no shortage of events all around and in the city, you won't find a bunch of people gathered on the lawn of Godwin High School to watch fireworks. Maybe it doesn't matter where you go to watch fireworks but I'm thankful I had a place that has left me with such fond memories.

On a more serious note, thank you to all of those who have, who are and who will continue to fight for our freedom. Your service has not gone unnoticed.

Have a great holiday weekend everyone!

I'm So Excited & I Just Can't Hide It

2010-06-28T14:26:00.002-04:00

I normally don't wish time away, (life passes so quickly why would you want your days to go by faster?) but I have to admit, part of me is wishing it was August because I am absolutely ecstatic about my vacation with Brad to Stowe, Vt. Growing up, my parents rented a house on Long Beach Island, the nicer area of the Jersey Shore, for our family vacation. Every year, for probably almost 10 years, we would spend a week in August building sandcastles and collecting shells for our driveway-side business, Shell World. When we got a little older, my parents decided it was time to take more adventurous vacations and we spent two summers in Cape Cod, Mass. and two summers in Stowe, Vt. Aside the from the Jersey Shore, the vacations that have stuck with me were those to Vermont. Not only is the scenery breathtakingly beautiful, the weather is absolutely perfect - mid to upper 70s during the day, upper 50s to low 60s at night.

Back in April, I told Brad I wanted us to go on a vacation. Although we've been dating almost 7 years, this will be our first official vacation together. We've done long weekends together and vacations with friends, but this will be the first time we vacation alone for an entire week. Naturally, I said I wanted to go to the beach - I could work on my tan, take naps in the sun and work on my summer reading list (which by the way is quite short this year). Brad had other thoughts. He's not much of a beach bum and doesn't really enjoying laying out in the sun. If he does go to the beach he wants to play frisbee or do something more active. Naturally, the compromise hats had to come out.

After deciding on Vermont, I did some research and found a couple of great places for Brad and I to stay. We decided on the Green Mountain Inn which is on Main Street in the center of town. It has the charm and romanticism I was looking for and it's close to nearly everything we would want to explore. While we haven't put together any sort of formal itinerary (do you really need one on a vacation?), we have some activities in mind - biking the 5 mile trail through Stowe, visiting the Magic Hat brewery, taking a tour of Ben and Jerry's, taking a gondola ride up Mount Mansfield and hiking down, and exploring Toronto because Brad's never been to Canada. This morning when I had a few minutes at work, I decided to glance over the Inn's website. They had a whole page of activities, which of course got me super excited. I found some highly recommended hiking trails and learned there will be a fall festival the week we're in town sponsored by a local chocolate shop. There are wineries nearby, canoeing, dog sled rides (yes, even in the summer - they use carts!), etc. Gosh, I'm getting excited just typing all the great things we'll be able to do.

So now the countdown is on. Five weeks from Saturday we will have made the 12 hour (yes, 12 hour) drive from Richmond to Stowe (with a stop in Northern Virginia to drop off Delilah and a stop in Brooklyn, NY to break up the drive) and will be relaxing, maybe in the white wooden rockers on the porch or perhaps poolside with a drink in hand. More than likely though, you'll find us exploring every little bit of Stowe and enjoying every minute of it.

People Watching Should Be a Sport

2010-06-22T22:17:00.001-04:00

In my last post (well, okay, the post before the poem), I talked about my love of working out. Another love of mine that you may or may not know about is my love of people watching. Since I arrived at the gym 15 minutes early for my BodyStep class today, I was able to fit in some quality people watching time. People watching is highly entertaining on its own, but add in a bunch of sweaty people trying to look good at the gym and you've got quite the train wreck to observe! The following are my observations from today's American Family Fitness People Watching Extravaganza!

A bathing suit top does not double as a sports bra.
Henrico Fire Department guys who arrive in their fire truck and work out together are adorable.
If women feel the need to exercise in spandex shorts, they should make sure the shorts are not see-through.
Similarly, if women plan to make shorts out of sweatpants they should make sure to cut them to an appropriate length for the gym.
It is not okay, in my humble opinion, to come to a step class and do your own routine while everyone else is following the instructor.
Unless you are the BodyStep instructor, it is completely unnecessary to have the special "BodyStep" branded shoes.
Men think no one else notices when they stare at girls' badunkadunks; trust me when I say, people do notice.
Hokies should continue to wear Virginia Tech/Hokie-related workout attire.

Comes the Dawn

2010-06-19T21:19:00.002-04:00

After awhile you learn the subtle difference
between holding a hand and chaining a soul.
And you learn that love doesn't mean security,
And you begin to learn that kisses aren't contracts
And presents aren't promises.
And you begin to accept your defeats with you head up and your eyes open.
With the grace of maturity, not the grief of a child.
And you learn to build all your roads on
Today because tomorrow's ground is too uncertain for plans,
And futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight.
After awhile you learn that even sunshine burns if you get too much.
So you plant your own garden and decorate your own soul,
Instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure...
That you really are strong
And that you really do have worth.
And you learn and learn and learn ....
With every goodbye you learn.

-Veronica A. Shoftstall

Thanks to my girl Trinette for posting this on Facebook :)

I need to see your ID, skinny bitch

2010-06-17T22:12:00.001-04:00

I'm not really into blogs where every post is a bitch fest, some long drawn out "why me?" rant about how life is so terrible. This is not one of those blogs and neither is this post - but I can't promise there won't be some mild bitching here today. You see, it all started on Tuesday while I was waiting for my BodyStep class at American Family Fitness. The second floor of the gym looks down on to the pool which is currently under construction. As I stood watching, a guy I've made small talk with in previous classes came over and asked what I was looking at. After a few minutes we got on the topic of children and he asked if I had any. I laughed and said, "no, I'm only 26." His reply: "26? I thought you were in high school!"

Now I know I look young, I always have. I'm used to being carded at bars and not surprised when I'm mistaken for a college student. But gym guy's comment really irked me. High school? Kids in high school, especially in the West End of Richmond, are brats who drive cars nicer than I'll ever have. They come to the gym to check each other out and trade the latest gossip. The girls wear super short shorts and "Godwin Cheerleading" tee shirts while pretending to run around the track. Last time I checked, I wear a running tank top and mesh shorts that don't show off my ass when I work out and I rarely talk to anyone. When I run on the track I actually run and I wear a watch to track my time.

The gym incident happened on Tuesday and by yesterday afternoon it was all but a distant memory; until today. After work, I went to Kroger to pick up some groceries for dinner. Thankfully it wasn't busy and I didn't even have to wait in line to check out. The cashier and I made some small talk and she asked if dinner was just for me and my boyfriend and I said no because Brad's aunt was joining us as well. Then she brought up something about kids and I commented that I was only 26 and so I didn't have any kids. "26? I would have thought you were 21." Ugh. Well, I guess 21 is better than high school. I should have left it at that but of course I brought up the gym incident to which the cashier replied, "oh yeah, you could pass for high school."

There's something else about high school kids, especially girls, that I didn't mention previously, and it's that most high school girls are skinny...which brings me to my next gripe. It's no secret that I'm small. Just like I've always looked young, I've always been skinny (except for a short stint in college where I gained 15 pounds, but even then, I wasn't huge). In fact at one point, I was under weight for my height.

Now I'm sure some of you are thinking, "oh great, she's gonna bitch about how skinny she is."That's not what this is about. This is about the fact that I don't like it when people make me feel bad about my size. I routinely receive comments like, "oh so how much do you weigh?"; "You're so small, have you lost weight?"; "I never realized how petite you were!"; "what size jeans do you wear? Oh a 2, but you're really a 0 because those are big on you..." etc. etc. The truth is, I love food and if you know me you know how much I love cheese, wine, dirty martinis and crab dip from 3 Monkeys to name a few. But if you know me you also know that high blood pressure runs in my family and to some extent, high cholesterol. So much as I love to indulge in these culinary delights, I pretty much have to work out and watch what I eat because I'm 26 and I don't want to be on blood pressure medicine or worse, dead!

Another thing about me is that I love working out, especially running. In high school I ran cross country and track and I renewed my love of running when I ran in the 5k4 Caitlin last year. In December, my sister and I decided to sign up for the Monument Avenue 10k and I joined the YMCA Training Team to help jump start my training. Naturally when you're running 20 plus miles a week, you're going to lose weight. After finishing the 10k (in 52:04), I trained a bit for the 5k4 Caitlin and then got a little burnt out on the whole running thing. Now, I'm trying all sorts of classes at the gym and having so much fun. Naturally, since I'm changing up my work out routine, my body is going to change. My legs might get more toned; my abs may become more defined; maybe my butt will become more of a badunkadunk. My point is, just because I like to work out, doesn't mean I'm trying to lose weight. I just enjoy the high it gives me and I enjoy not having to be on prescription drugs for high blood pressure.

Sigh. I'm glad I got that all out. Thanks for reading and I hope you don't think I'm a whiny bitch or a skinny bitch or some other kind of bitch. I promise not to post anything like this again for awhile!

Thunderstorm

2010-06-16T22:25:00.000-04:00

Delilah is afraid of thunderstorms and this is how she sometimes likes to hide. Other times she puts her head under Brad's night stand and her legs under the bed. Or, if she's really scared, she gets in the bathroom. If there was ever a tornado, she'd be the most prepared!

Quack!

2010-06-16T20:40:00.000-04:00

I was waiting for someone at the Short Pump Starbucks and lo and behold, there was a mama duck waiting outside the store! She kept looking inside and people talked to her and she seemed to really be enjoying herself. Yay for ducks at Starbucks! :)

Thrill Capital of the Southeast

2010-06-13T18:25:00.003-04:00

Brad and I spent the weekend in Greensboro, North Carolina with my sister Ariana and her boyfriend Kevin. Ariana lives in a cute little apartment on the north side of town, right down the street from who we think might be a Carolina Panther player - who else has a gate and gate code key pad and security cameras in their driveway?! Anyway, Ariana works for Sinclair Broadcasting and since one of their advertising clients is Carowinds, they offered employees free tickets to the park.

What's funny is that my sister really isn't in to roller coasters and they give Brad motion sickness, but they were both troopers and went on some of the rides. I prefer to ease into my roller coaster riding because I'm a bit of a baby about them sometimes, so we chose the Flying Ace Aerial Chase as our first ride. The Flying Ace is actually a kid's coaster despite it's 4 out of 5 thrill rating. Oh I forgot to mention, we met up with our friend Leah and her boyfriend Adam. Ariana and I have known Leah since we were in elementary school; our mom worked for her mom and our families have been friends ever since. It's been awhile since we've seen each other but just like any old friend, we picked up right where we left off like no time had passed in between.

Anyway, the line for the Aerial Chase wasn't long which was great because the heat was on, 90 degrees plus if you considered the heat index. The ride was actually pretty good for a mini coaster but it definitely jerked your head around more than I had anticipated. Thankfully neither Brad nor my sister got sick from it! After grabbing some much needed water and taking some pictures with Snoopy (see below), Kevin, Leah, Adam and I lined up for the Carolina Cyclone while Ariana and Brad went looking for sunglasses. The Cyclone was awesome but I whacked my head pretty hard on the overhead harness thing which did not feel good. Next up was the Hurler, a wooden coaster Ariana was really excited (and a little nervous) about. Since there is also a Hurler at Kings Dominion in Virginia, I knew what to expect (and it was fun!.

Leah, Ariana, Kevin and I met up with Brad and Adam after riding the Hurler and decided it was time to eat. As we started walking, Kevin told us he wasn't feeling well. Ariana and I, after waiting in line for at least 20 minutes, grabbed some Chick-fil-A and water and sat down in the shade to eat. Kevin, being the resourceful Eagle Scout that is he, took the Chick-fil-A bag and used it as a cold compress, pouring some of the ice from his water in to the bag and twisting it closed. A couple chicken nuggets and a few sips of water later and he was feeling much better.

After lunch, we rode the last two rides of the day - Ricochet and Carolina Goldrusher. It was actually Brad's idea to try out the Ricochet and I'm glad we did because it was a lot of fun. You sit in a car and go up, down and around on a track making you feel like you're going to fall off. They take your picture at the end and it was a great shot of Brad, Leah, Adam and I (Ariana and Kevin stayed in the shade for a bit longer) but I didn't feel like shelling out $10 to take it home. The last ride, Goldrusher, was awesome despite its deceptively cheesey train locomotive exterior.

I would have loved to ride the other great coasters at Carowinds but it was so hot after riding Goldrusher, we all decided it was time to call it a day. As we were leaving, we saw a girl wearing only a green and white bikini and a mom trying to remove a splinter or bee stinger from her daughters foot on the ground right in front of the women's restroom door. The people watching opportunities at Carowinds were top notch but I'll save that for another post. :)

Photos!

Ariana and I lovin' on Snoopy!

Brad and I as sexy beach-goers

Ariana, Brad, Kevin and I with some Peanuts characters

AMEN!

2010-06-11T15:59:00.002-04:00

Thanks to my girls at Two Hippie Chic whose blog I found this on and to All things Alishan, the original poster.

Naturally Flavored with other Natural Flavors

2010-06-08T11:44:00.002-04:00

I came in to work this morning and noticed this pretty pink can sitting on my co-worker's desk - So Clear Raspberry Flavored Sparkling Water from Walmart - and was intrigued if not, perplexed. The drink has 0 calories, no sugar, no artificial sweetener, no juice and the ingredients are carbonated water and natural flavors. So if there is no sugar, juice or fake sweetener, how does it taste like raspberry? And what the heck does naturally flavored with other natural flavors mean?! I was so entertained by this can I had to Tweet this picture to which I received a reply from my good friend @LizMcMedia who suggested corn syrup is the natural ingredient used to flavor the water. Good point, corn syrup is natural (but is it really?) but still, how do they flavor the corn syrup so it tastes like raspberry? Okay, I should probably go do some work now instead of worrying about a naturally flavored with other natural flavors beverage from Walmart...

5k4 Caitlin

2010-06-07T16:09:00.000-04:00

This past weekend, Memorial Day weekend, some of my best friends and I traveled to upstate New York to run in a 5k for our sorority sister who was lost on April 16, 2007. One of my friends, McKenzie, and I participated last year so we were really excited to have two more friends join us for a girls weekend. We were so lucky the wonderful innkeepers Laura and Leigh at the Apple Valley Inn in Glenwood, NJ were so accommodating this year. Normally on a holiday weekend they require a two night stay and when they found out there was four of us they were a little reluctant to let us all stay in one room. Thankfully, they agreed to let us stay for one night in one room, I think because they liked the reason we were in the area. Even better, not too long after we checked in, they let us know they had a cancellation and gave us the extra room for FREE! To show our appreciation we had put together a basket of goodies from Virginia (wine, peanuts, chocolate covered Hokie peanuts, corn bread mix, honey, apple butter and crackers) which was a big surprise for them.

So after we checked in and had some time to relax on the beautiful lawn of the inn, we got ready and headed to the race. McKenzie, June and Joey all walked while I ran. It was a lot of fun and I came in second in my age group and beat my time from the previous year. I made sure to stick around the finish line to take pictures of the girls as they finished up the race. Thankfully the rain held off until the end of the race and while we waited for the weather to clear, we enjoyed some wine in June's car (keys in the glove box!).

After eating dinner, we settled down on the lawn of Bella Vista Holiday Spa to listen to some music and relax. It so happens that Caitlin's mom spotted McKenzie and Joey wearing their In Memory of Caitlin shirts and came over to talk to us. While it was great to talk to her, I think it was a lot more emotional than any of us anticipated. It's weird for me to talk about Caitlin and the events of April 16. For one, I had already graduated and was not on campus that day and second, I didn't know Caitlin very well as she was a freshman when I was a senior and our two classes didn't interact very much. I do have one memory of Caitlin from my senior year. It seems silly now looking back, but during one of our last sorority meetings, someone had put together a slide show of photos that left several of us in tears. Caitlin so thoughtfully handed me a tissue and I just remember thinking, she must think I look like such an idiot but she is so sweet to be giving me this tissue. So yeah, I have mixed feelings about how I should feel about the whole thing but honestly, it all makes me sad.

Anyway, after an emotional conversation with Caitlin's mom and a couple more glasses of wine, the music really got going courtesy of Johnny, Caitlin's neighbor and back up musician for musical greats Bruce Springsteen and Rod Stewart. He sang to us and we danced and had an amazing time. Around 10:30pm we decided to call it a night.

Before we left the next day, we took Caitlin's mom up on the offer she made the night before to come see Caitlin's iris. The iris is the official flower of our sorority and one of our sister's mom is a botanist. She created an iris for Caitlin which sits in a beautiful garden in the backyard of Caitlin's house. We enjoyed some of Caitlin's favorite tea and then, Caitlin's mom asked us to take some of her childhood books home with us. She said she really didn't want to give the books to just anyone and told us we had to "duke it out" to decide who got what book. Like me, Caitlin played the violin so I went home with a book about classical composers and a children's version of Emily Dickinson poetry.

Here are some pictures from the weekend!

Apple Valley Inn

A little pre-race relaxation

Superstar June finishing up the race - she came in 11th for the walkers!

Mack and Joey finishing up strong

View from the Spa

This is not the first

2010-06-07T15:50:00.000-04:00

I'm trying to get a handle on this whole blog thing. I can't make up my mind which blog service I like better. I got frustrated with Blogger because although it's entirely customizable, it's almost too much to think about it. I thought I had decided on Weebly which is great because you can drag and drop any elements you want. I wrote two blog posts there and then realized there are these pretty blog backgrounds you can add. Unfortunately, they don't work with Weebly. So here I am, back to Blogger, pretty background in place. Since I spent so much time working on my second Weebly post I'm going to re-post it here shortly.

My blog doesn't really have a purpose other than to document my crazy life adventures. I've been inspired by my friend who started a blog about the ups and downs of trying to conceive and my boyfriend who recently completed a 10 day tour de Americana. He used Google Latitude and Google Buzz to keep friends and family up to date on his whereabouts. I'm calling this blog American Honey because I like the song by Lady Antebellum. Its chorus says..."There's a wild wild whisper blowin' in the breeze, callin' out my name like a long lost friend. Oh I miss those days as the years go by, oh nothin's sweeter than summer time and American honey." I miss my college days and something tells me when I'm older I'll miss these carefree days of my twenties so I thought it was a fitting title for my blog.

Anyway, thanks for following along. I plan to try and post at least once a week and will do my best to stick to that plan. Enjoy!