Heard: "People on whose couches I've been crashing" edition

I've spent many--if not most--of the last eight weekends, on the road.  To Tennessee for my mom's (surprise) 60th birthday. To Boston for my friend's (surprise) 30th birthday. To Philadelphia to visit a friend who recently moved there. To New York with my cousins. Etc etc etc.

Consequently, I have lots of pictures to share, and lots of excellent food to tell you about.  But in the meantime, please enjoy these bon mots from my travels.

[In Philly, I had packed two pairs of boots, both of which I had worn while sight-seeing over the course of several days. On the last evening, as we sat watching the Oscars, Ryan noticed my rather ancient slippers, which are cable-knit with ties at the ankles.]

Ryan: You brought three pairs of boots?!

Me: These are slippers.

R: Three pairs!

H: They're slippers!

R: And they have those... bonbons.

H: .... You mean pom poms?

***************************

[In Boston last weekend, I stayed with my old roommate Jay (who I have quoted at length in the past) and his girlfriend, Heather. After many years of resisting, Jay is reading Harry Potter, having burned through six of the seven books in just a few months. As is common among those who are late converts to this kind of cultural obsession, he has MANY THOUGHTS about the books and wants to talk about them. A lot. This is relevant to the conversation that follows, which will probably make zero sense if you are unfamiliar with the finer points of Harry Potter.]

Me: What's your wifi password?

Heather, from the other room: Hold on, I want to hear you explain this to her.

Me: Which network is it? [scans list of networks] "Sirius"?

Jay: [guilty look]

Me: Of course it is.

J: Okay, so if you needed the password, what would you SAY?

Me: ... Alohomora? What's the spell for "open"?

J: Say you need the password to COME to you?

Me: Oh, good lord. "Accio...Internet?"

J: [triumphantly] Capital A, capital I!

2012 Catch-up: Atlantic/Pacific

A lot of things happened in 2012, particularly in the latter half of the year, and I barely wrote about any of it! So for the next few days (weeks?) I'm going to catch up on a few of the stuff I missed last year--and clean off my camera card while I'm at it.  Happy New Year, all! 

August was a weird month. 

I was off swimming in this during our annual family vacation... 

Edisto Island, SC

...and the next week I was dipping my toes in this: 

Holly and Lucky

We had an unusual Christmas this year.

For one thing, it was the first without my sister, who was spending her first Christmas with her husband's family. But even that was sort of forgotten, because this will forever be remembered as The Christmas We Unexpectedly Acquired Two Dogs.

Let me back up.

Heard/Photo Wednesday: Partying with celery

During Annie's wedding in Iowa, I found myself--once again--skipping the cake and consuming large quantities of raw celery. So naturally, I had to document it for my colleague, who once pointed out my frequent commentary on crudite consumption. 

Me, mid-dance: Jay! I need to you take a picture of me with this celery.
Jason: ... Seriously?
Me: Yes. Please post it to Facebook right now.
Jason: ... 

Bad lighting, good veggies

Nobody can ever accuse me of not knowing how to have a good time.

My kind of town

I got back late last night after a late flight from O'Hare, on which my seatmate was a lovely girl who happened to be reading the exact same book I am (A Clash of Kings, for those who are wondering). She also happened to be a nervous flyer, a fact that she mentioned as we watched assorted emergency vehicles assembling on the tarmac as our plane taxied out for takeoff. (Apparently there was a problem with an incoming flight, though I'm assuming it ended okay, as I've seen no headlines about distressed planes today.) She understated it just a hair ("I don't like flying much."), though, because about 20 minutes into the flight, as I was settling into a light doze amid some very slight turbulence, I felt a hand grab my arm. The poor girl was clearly freaking out. So I spent the entire flight making conversation, talking her off the ledge ("Well, the flight attendants are serving drinks. They wouldn't be doing that if the plane was in trouble."), and generally distracting her. 

I got home at 1am. So much for sleeping on the plane.

Photo Wednesday: Three Rivers

At the end of May, my family convened in Pennsylvania to celebrate my cousin Daniel's high school graduation, including an amazing dinner at the Monterey Bay Fish Grotto atop Pittsburgh's Mount Washington. The views of the city couldn't have been better.

City of bridges

Heinz Field, home of our beloved Steelers

Sparkly! (PNC field on the left, where a Pirates game was taking place)

Broadway, baby!

So I went to New York last week. Ashley, who was headed there with a friend for a theater trip, had called me just a couple of weeks prior to invite me along. Though I was to be in Pittsburgh for a few days to celebrate my cousin's high school graduation, I decided I could squeeze in a couple of days in the city and a show or two. So, for the second spring in a row, Ash and I started making New York plans.

Unlike last year, however, I was basically crashing Ashley and Dustin's (her friend from St. Louis) trip, so I was pretty much along for the ride. "There will be no sleeping in on this trip. Up and at 'em every morning to stand in lines," she warned me, referring to the lines for the TKTS discount ticket booths. But that was fine, so I bought my BoltBus tickets, and off I went. During the mere 48 hours I was there, we managed to:

• See two plays and a musical:

Recently, on Twitter (part C)

Of all the Brit-ified word spellings, the one that most amuses me is "yoghurt." Possibly because I always read it in Alan Rickman's voice.

Right now I'm really regretting not liberating more of those brownies from [Val's] kitchen last night. #superbowl

Was asked to set up Downton Abbey Lunch/Viewing Party & now my inbox is flooded w responses to the all-staff meeting request. I love my job.

OH at Starbucks earlier: "Tebow has God on his side, apparently." "Yeah, but Brady has Giselle on his." #patriots #broncos

Void dire would be a lot more enjoyable if one of the attorneys looked like Will Gardner. @MrJoshCharles #juryduty

My excitement about my huge new "Harry Potter From Page to Screen" book is rather unseemly for a woman of my advanced age, but whatever.

The advantage of watching The Nutcracker in your own home is that you can reenact all the dances from when YOU were in it 18 years ago.

Highlight of day: getting 2012 desk planner for work. Am gleefully adding appointments and events and birthdays. Am SUCH a nerd.

Was literally putting on coat to head home when I found chocolate cake in the kitchen. Back at my desk, eating it with a spoon. #fail #yum

I'm one of the 99%, but if the Occupy DC protestors are even remotely responsible for this traffic mess, I hope they ALL get arrested.

This "relaxing & reviving" cherry/cinnamon tea would be more effective if I wasn't petrified of spilling bright red liquid everywhere.

There's nothing like dropping many, many dollars on new tires to take the luster off of adulthood.

IT IS SNOWING ARE YOU KIDDING ME.  [Ed. Note: It was October.  Relatedly, it is now February, and today it was 56 degrees.]

Look, just because we're nearing 30 yrs old doesn't mean we're not going to sort each other into #HarryPotter houses over wine.

Watching football in sweats and simultaneously breaking in my gold platform bridesmaid heels. #classy #multitasking

Wow, I really don't know how I feel about this whole coconut water phenomenon.

On passports and Pinterest

I woke up this morning in a panic about renewing my passport.

It took a minute to get my bearings. Where am I? In bed. Am I late for work? No, it's Saturday. There's snow on the ground. Go back to sleep. But my passport! What about it? It's expired. So? So, I need it! Why? For the trip to Italy!

... The what?  Then I remembered a lengthy and rather vivid dream wherein I was preparing for a trip to Italy and for which i would obviously need my passport. It  was at this point that I realized that I shouldn't peruse Pinterest right before going to bed. I had been pinning stuff to my "Places to Visit" board, and obviously it was messing with my subconscious.

This morning, of course, I can't stop thinking about planning trips, despite the fact that, given last year's excessive travel, I  recently implemented the Air Travel Moratorium of 2012 (Except For When Necessitated By Weddings), which is a key part of Austerity Measures 2012, in which I tighten the reins on my bank account.

I'm mixing my metaphors a little, but you get the idea.

So: any thoughts on cheap but awesome trips to take this year--preferably within driving distance of D.C.?

Elsewhere on the interwebs...

Jules blogs about our super-secret trip to Saint Louis.
Operation Surprise Ashley

So this happened...

My sister got married, ya'll.

It was awesome and beautiful and fun. The weather was perfect.

West Virginia State Capitol Building

Recently, on Twitter (part deux)

When I haven't been here, I've been over on the Twitter. Turns out, my feed is basically a very brief recap of my summer.  

Lengthy dinner with my sister makes me wish she lived here so we could do this regularly.

Sadness is realizing you've run out of cheese.

Just experienced my Annual @KenCen Honors Announcement YouTube Black Hole, wherein I watch clips from years past & lose all track of time.

If I was the poor schmuck who had to play Roger Federer starting at MIDNIGHT, I'd just forfeit before the match even started. #USOpen

Engaged in standoff w giant cicada. Staring at crack under bedroom door, boot in hand. Bug is on other side of door. Could take a while.

I'm mildly horrified by the number of hours I've spent watching tennis in the past two days. #USOpen
[Ed. Note: TWENTY-ONE HOURS of tennis over the course of Labor Day weekend. I'm not proud of it.]

Aaand we just had an earthquake...I think.
[Ed. Note: We had. Perhaps you heard? It was a bit of A Thing on the east coast.]

I am having a religious experience with this cannoli. #Boston #MikesPastries

Brunch on VT farm, small-town coffee shop, road trip, dinner in Boston, Friends with Benefits, strawberries, catching up w/Jay, bed.

Do you use the word "buzzkill" when talking to your doctor? No? Just me?

OF COURSE I get the hot young senior resident the day I'm wearing old underwear. And of course I have to put on an exam gown. #bummer

Swimming world championships on tv! Where is my boyfriend Aaron Peirsol?
[Ed. Note: RETIRED!  He has retired. What is the point of the Summer Olympics if I don't have Aaron Peirsol to ogle cheer on?]

The Life List: Sweet Caroline

So you know what's awesome?

Boston. Boston is awesome.

Photo Wednesday: Pittsburgh's Phipps Conservatory

The Life List: See Dolly Parton in concert.

On Sunday night, two petite blonde superstars performed in/near D.C. One of them was Britney Spears. The other was, in all ways, the anti-Britney.

See Dolly Parton in concert. Check.

As an Appalachian girl, I grew up with an appreciation for the force of nature that is Dolly Parton. I went to Dollywood. I sang "9 to 5" with my high-school girlfriends. I defended her to those who made fun of her hair and, um, unusual physique (not that I need to--she makes plenty of fun of herself). Because the truth is that behind the Botox and under the bleached bouffant is a funny, kind, generous, brilliant woman who has written and sung some amazing songs. Dolly IS east Tennessee, and when you're from there, it's second nature to defend her with everything you have.


I went with three friends, all fellow Appalachia natives, to see her last night at Wolf Trap. We took an old quilt and a picnic. The stars were out, a light breeze kept the hot summer night comfortable, and an incredibly diverse crowd filled every available seat and spot of grass in the 7,000+ capacity venue.


Dolly performed for 2.5 hours. "This sounds like home!" my friend Shelley cried, as the first bars of the first song started. Dolly played all her old favorites, songs from her new album, and some excellent covers. She, rather awesomely, rapped. She played nine, yes nine, instruments (fiddle, guitar, banjo, auto harp, dulcimer, recorder, piano, harmonica, and, to our great surprise, saxophone). She had every last person in the crowd eating out of the palm of her hand.


It was unforgettable. She is unforgettable.



If you can forgive the shakiness, this version of "Coat of Many Colors" was recorded at the show I saw. Song starts at about 0:30.

Recently, on Twitter

When I haven't been here, I've been over on the Twitter...and also apparently watching a lot of television, if my feed is to be believed.


So. We need to talk about Downton Abbey. #PBS #amazing #MaggieSmithIsAwesome

Ya'll! Melanie from So You Think You Can Dance is from Marietta, GA!

Okay, yes, fine, I TOO am glued to the Casey Anthony verdict.

I tell ya what, that Bjorn Borg is a silver fox. (@Wimbledon)

Last night I read literally all of #Bossypants cover to cover. Oh, Tina Fey.

So, uh, how can you tell if you've broken your toe? #justcurious #ouch

I don't know if purgatory exists, but if so, I bet it's a lot like the DC DMV Inspection Station.

Highlight of NJ wedding weekend was Shelley & Ed's rendition of Dolly Parton/Kenny Rogers classic "A Christmas to Remember." 

New York, part 2

Somehow, despite the fact that we ate our way through the city for 48 hours, we managed to find some energy to explore Manhattan. 

The Life List: Eat at Le Bernardin. Buy a hot dog from a street vendor.

Okay! So. New York. Pardon the delay. The thing about traveling with your friends is that you never know who ended up with which photos, until you get home and realize you have four hundred photos of seafood from the fish market....and very little else. Hence, I've been tracking down pictures from my traveling companions. So without further ado...


Last month's New York trip was a rousing success for many reasons, not the least of which was that, in the first 12 hours, I knocked two items off the Life List:  

Eat at Le Bernardin. Check.

Buy a hot dog from a street vendor. Check.

In fact, pretty much all we did in New York was eat and drink stuff:

New York recap: a teaser

Ya'll, I have SO MUCH TO SAY about last weekend's fan-freakin'-tastic New York trip. But I am on deadline this week, so it'll have to wait until the weekend.  But for now, please enjoy the few rather random--and not very good--photos that I took with my Blackberry. They are not particularly representative of the trip as a whole, but they should lend some insight into the variety of shenanigans that we got ourselves into (...."into which we got ourselves"? Hm.)

During the cab ride to the hotel, a Dudamel sighting on the scaffolding
at Carnegie Hall: an auspicious start to the trip

Coffee and chocolate bouchons at Bouchon Bakery

Ashley, the Nutella Ambassador of the Midwest,
finds a lifetime supply of it at Chelsea Market

Trio with bison
(I thought we were doing "weird faces," but apparently not)

"Still Life with Bison"
(A display at West Elm. Bison sold separately.)

Anyway.  More to come!

Here comes trouble

Well, well.  Look who's decided to join Ashley and me in New York next weekend.

She's a little teapot (though is neither short nor stout).

We will probably take lots of nutty photographs like this one, though to my knowledge there is a shortage of Disney-themed shrubbery in New York City.