London Calling

Every afternoon when work is almost over I cannot wait to get back to my house. I'm in love! I used to almost dread going home to my apartment, I felt like it was sort of sucking the life out of me. It was so dark, and 2.5 years spent in a one bedroom apartment was about 6 months too long. I just adore my new place so much--its bigger, more homey, prettier and much friendlier than my old place. The fact that it's two levels make a huge difference, and I've already met 4 or 5 of my neighbors. I met one neighbor in the 2.5 years I lived in the apartment--just one! So far everything is better, and I can't wait for more friends to come for a visit and hang out with me there, since I may never leave!

Unfortunately, I'm going out of town for work next week (boo), and then Mom and I are finally leaving on our trip to London! I am so excited for this trip. I really haven't even taken much time to think about it or get excited for it because so, so much has been going on. But as of yesterday, I'm in full trip planning mode. I've been to London twice before, so I feel pretty comfortable making my way around and knowing what is important for me to see and do. Do any of you have any suggestions for me, though? I'd love to hear if you do!

I think Mom and I have a lot of the standard tourist attractions on our list again, along with purchasing plenty of royal wedding souvenirs, seeing Mousetrap and taking a day trip to Stonehenge. So. Excited.

24th Birthday & Washington DC

Me and Julie, reunited after 2 long years!

Me and John in the beautiful Library of Congress

Gorgeous building

Our nation's capitol!

John and the Ninja Turtle!

Me and the White House

It was a great trip! I always love going to DC, and it was an especially great way to spend my birthday with John and some very close friends.

Mental Vacation

Oh my goodness, I wish I was in this photo at this very moment. Travelzoo popped up with a 6 night London trip for $799 last week too. Coincidence? I think not. I may consider this one very seriously...

Pollen, California & spring in the South

This week has been the perfect example of spring in the south. The week started out as hot as Hades. Seriously, it should not be 90 degrees during the 1st week of April. But, such is life. Today it was a mere 50 degrees when I walked out of my apartment to work. WOW it felt cold. Especially since I've been sweating to death first thing in the morning for the past few days. Thankfully, we had a little rain yesterday to help wash away some of the outrageous pollen thats been piling up all week. Yay! So now I'm looking forward to an honest-to-goodness spring-like weekend of 70 degree weather, sunshine, eating outside, sandals and shorts!

The week has been a busy one, but also a slow one too. I guess that's what I get for being out of the office living the fabulous California life for two weeks straight. And believe me, it was fabulous. Here is a little recap for you all:

My first week in San Francisco was lovely. I was by myself there for work related training. I had a glorious time! I met some great people in my class, and luckily had some free time to explore beautiful San Fran. I bought pretty jewelry at a street fair, went to a specialty cheese shop one night (and only had cheese for dinner..yum!), explored Fisherman's Wharf, ate amazing seafood at a restaurant overlooking the bay, toured Alcatraz (scary, but amazing views!), rode a cable car up the very, very steep hills, and even drove across the Golden Gate Bridge! It was a great week overall, and I feel lucky that I got to really take full advantage and see lots of things around the city.

For the second week, my parents flew out to meet me and we spent the week driving down the Pacific Coast Highway from San Fran to L.A., and stopping at all the fabulous little spots along the way. LOVED the drive down the coast. The road is literally on the side of mountain cliffs that drop right off into the ocean for a lot of the way down, and the views are spectacular. Northern California is a truly gorgeous place, and I highly reccommend it to anyone who gets the chance to go! As we made our way down, we stopped in Monterrey, Santa Cruz and few other surf spots. We spent a night in Santa Barbara, and then made our way to Hollywood. I really enjoyed Hollywood. We stayed in a hotel right off Hollywood Blvd, and of course we saw the handprints outside the Chinese Theater, the Kodak Theater where they host the Oscars, and all the stars lining the sidewalks. We saw the Hollywood sign, we went to Beverly Hills (heavenly!), I shopping on Rodeo Dr. (dream come true!), drove around looking at big, beautiful (and i'm sure celebrity-owned) homes. We did a tour of Sony Pictures Studios which was a lot of fun. I even had my celebrity spotting there--Jason Biggs from American Pie walked right by! Of course we also visited a couple of presidential museums and also the Getty Center while we were there. Lots of stuff packed in, but we had a great trip!

It was so nice to be back home last weekend and hang out with John. We went to the Dixieland Funpark in Fayetteville, GA. I'd reccommend this place to anyone who is a fan of mini-golf, crappy rides and 90s arcade games. We actually had a lot of fun there! We also made an Easter meal together on Sunday since we were both Easter orphans, and it turned out really well.

Hopefully this weekend will be just as relaxing and fun. I'm hoping to do a little shopping, maybe see a friend or two, and hopefully go to Park Tavern at Piedmont Park at some point. I'm just glad its Friday :)

I'm back!

Yes, I have finally returned from the west coast, where I was for the past two weeks. I had a FABULOUS time. Really and truly loved it (except maybe for LA proper..but I still enjoyed Hollywood). I've been pretty busy at work today, so I'm hoping I'll have time for a full recap tomorrow. I know, you're left in suspense. But I'll give you a little teaser of pictures to tide you over :) I hope all of my blog friends have been doing great over the past couple of weeks. I've missed reading what you have all been up to, and I look forward to catching up this week! Enjoy!

View from my hotel in San Francisco...heaven.

Driving over the Golden Gate bridge!

Pebble beach.

Gorgeous coast...I love the ocean!

Greetings from (almost) the Great White North

Hello dear readers from Minnesota! I've been here all week for work, and I've been freezing my butt off. Its in the 30s and 40s here this week, and we all know that I don't deal well with cold. Especially not in the first week of October. Minneaplois is definitely a nice place--I like the downtown, the art institute and the Mall of America (I even got to see where Mary Tyler Moore threw her hat into the air on the show!). But I know that I could never survive the cold.

I am SO EXCITED right now for one very special reason: homecoming at Wake this weekend!! I haven't been to Winston since last November. Something totally unthinkable while I was spending a lovely 4 years of my life there. I can't wait to go back to campus, see the football game, cheer for the Deacs, and hang out with a few of my nearest and dearest. I can't wait! If only all my favorites could be there...sigh. Maybe one day when we all have tons of expendable income we can come and go for reunions as we please :) Now, all I have to do is not miss my plane and get myself back to NC!


And in other news, I'm feeling pretty good about life for various reasons. Sometimes it takes a totally new person or situation to be able to kick the past to the curb. I've been having a great time meeting new people and seeing that there really is more out there than I let myself believe sometimes. Like K and I were talking about on the phone last night--we're both finally getting little tastes of what we deserve, and its giving us faith that something really wonderful is on the horizon. How exciting! All we have to do is not let our crazy brains take over!

I hope you all have a lovely weekend, and hopefully I'll be back to more regular blogging next week!

Forgive me

I've been a terrible blogger lately. I've pretty much abandoned this thing for the last few weeks, but hopefully that means I've been out living life and having fun instead of sitting around writing about it? Hmm...maybe.

So, a little bit of a September recap is needed. Disney was lovely and wonderful, but definitely not relaxing. I think it took me a week of sleep just to catch up! I was in Birmingham all last week for work, which was also fun. I like the city. We stayed downtown near the Five Points area (does every city in America have a Five Points? I think yes), and went to some great restaurants. I had delicious BBQ--NOT NC style--one night, and we went to a fabulous place called Highland Bar & Grill to celebrate my birthday a day early. We split lots of amazing appetizers including baked grits and spiny lobster tails, but the best part was definitely dessert. I had a chocolate bread pudding which was to die for. I also tasted the creme brulee which was like velvet. Delicious!

Luckily, we left Birmingham a day early, and I got to come back to ATL for my birthday. Honestly, any birthday after 21 is not really exciting, and a little bit of a let down. I loved the excuse to get my friends together, play trivia and drink martinis (and go to a crazy 80s dance party with the weirdest people I have ever seen), but the day didn't feel that special. I enjoyed it, and hopefully 23 will have a lot to offer this year! Friday I flew to Raleigh and had an awesome weekend at home. Pretty lazy overall--the most adult thing I did was get my own cell phone plan...it pained me to split off from my parents plan, but you've got to cut the apron strings eventually, right? I can barely even use my new phone, which makes me feel like an old person! I guess I'll just have to read the manual..sigh. I did some shopping, went to dinner at the Angus Barn, as is the usual bday tradition, and then got to see my wonderful friends on Sunday for dinner and a movie. FYI for anyone interested in seeing Love Happens, the new Jennifer Anniston movie: its a total downer. Just be prepared. Monday I took the day off and visited SCD at her school and got to see her classroom. It was so perfect, but I'd expect nothing less from her.

And now its back to the work grind for a couple of days. I'm only in the office for a 3 day week (only 2 now!), then I flex on Friday, and leave for class in Minneapolis for a week before homecoming at Wake next weekend!! So excited to go back to Winston! And in the mean time, so fairly exciting stuff is going on in my personal life, but I'll leave that update for another day :)

I hope you all are fabulous and are having a lovely start to fall. It was 55 degrees here this morning when I left my apartment! I love crisp weather, and I was not at all sad to say goodbye to this summer and close that chapter all together. Fall is definitely my favorite season, and I'm so glad its upon us. Has anything exciting happened with any of my awesome blog friends out there? Don't be shy! xoxo

Pointless Nostalgia

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm an extremely nostalgic person. I hold onto scraps of anything that remind me of a special time or a person I miss. I have a hard time throwing away class notes from 6th grade. I have every movie ticket stub from the last decade. And in our increasingly digital/computerized world, I told onto texts and voicemails and emails that I probably shouldn't. I can become nostalgic about everything. The good news is: apparently, I'm not the only one! This recent NY Times article talks about Generation Y's affliction of being nostalgic about the not so distant past, because it reminds us of our childhoods (mere years ago) and provides us comfort.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/fashion/23nostalgia.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&ref=fashion&adxnnlx=1249051672-ZbPIjhOQl8TXaPrKoMJYDg (for some reason my linking isn't working correctly, so you get a big ugly link!).

I'm proud to report today that I'm starting fresh (in baby-step kind of ways). Last night I forced myself to delete some things from my phone and computer that I'd been holding onto for no reason in particular--just because its what I do, and always have done. Anyway, it hurt to press "delete", but I almost felt lighter once I did. It provided a lot more release than I had expected. So, my fresh start is beginning just before a big, long two week trip to our nation's capital. I've been looking forward to this trip for months! Not only do I get to see K again, but Emily is coming for a weekend and I get to see KT and Ash, too! Personally, I'm excited about all of the above, but seeing my Big in particular. She is one of the best listening/ranting/complaining/commisserating partners I have. It kills me that I don't ever get to talk to her in person anymore, but I'll finally get to see her in a few days!

Happy weekend to everyone, and safe travels if you are going anywhere exciting! I'll update as much as I can from D.C. K and I have decided the ultimate goal for the week is to take a half decent facebook photo--hopefully we'll succeed!

Homeward bound!

SO excited about flying back to Atlanta today! I should probably be outside enjoying my last bit of Florida sunshine right now, but frankly its too hot and Florida sunshine isn't all its cracked up to be. Plus, I don't want to get completely burnt before I get on the plane.

Week one of my 4 week travel marathon--check. Next week, Alabama. Then DC for two weeks straight. I have to admit that I love traveling for my job. Especially weeks like this when I get a fabulous hotel suite all to myself. Its almost as big as my apartment, and I don't have to worry about cleaning anything. What could be better than that? I'm pretty sure if you were to ask me again in three weeks, I'd tell you I'm totally sick of hotels and never want to go anywhere again. We'll see.

I hope you all have something fun planned this weekend. Have a fabulous time doing whatever it might be!

This is where I'd rather be.

London. The absolute best city in the world. The only place I would considering moving no no notice, no friends, no plan. For some reason I'm really reminiscing about my last trip to the fair city..just over a year ago. Sigh...to be there now.

Things I like about the Bayou

1. The food. I had a fried oyster po'boy yesterday for lunch, and a catfish one today. The seafood is fresh because we're near the coast, and everything is delicious.

2. The accent. It almost sounds foreign. Much more pronounced than the typical "Nawlins" drawl. These people live in the heart of Louisiana, and they sound like it too.

3. I'm mere miles from the famous Avery Island--the home of Tabasco sauce! Next time you see a bottle, look at the label. It came from this wonderful, tiny little place!

T for Tuesday

Not much new to report on, my dears. Lots of work to be done this week in Louisiana, which is good, because its nice to be busy and not totally bored while offsite. I had a fairly boring evening last night. Went to dinner with my coworkers (Ruby Tuesday for the second night in a row!), chatted with the parents and with K for a while and passed out for the night. Its amazing what a one hour time difference makes. Tonight we're hoping to find a mall in the next town over for a little shopping adventure.

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) I missed both new episodes of Jon and Kate Plus 8 last night! I'm sure I'll be able to catch up when they replay the episodes every single night, but for now I missed out on my dose of drama for the night! Oh, well. Hope you all are having a great day. It's ridiculously hot and humid on the Bayou (ok, I don't really even know if I'm on the Bayou, but its fun to say), but thank goodness for air conditioning!

Greetings from Cajun Country

Hello from Louisiana! I'm having a lovely Central Time afternoon. I was ravenous by lunch time (being an hour behind), so I just scarfed down a large Mexican meal with my cokworkers, and am ready for a nap. Travel work days are always hard, because my brain doesn't get into thinking mode very easily after spending the entire morning in the car or on a plane. Especially since I was just on a plane coming back from Raleigh yesterday. Ick.

My weekend at home was excellent. I love being with my parents and my kitty and my best friends. Something about driving around Raleigh and sharing meals with the people who know me best makes me unbelievably happy and at ease. I wish I could recreate that feeling here, but I'm not sure the comfort of home is something that can be recreated period. We all know how much I needed to get out of town for a few days, and I made the most out of my short time there. If only I could've stayed another week...sigh.

And of course, now I'm out of town yet again. I flew in yesterday afternoon, shopped a little with Claire (so excited to see her again--and *gasp* she might be roommate potential since she just bought a house and has extra rooms!!). You have no idea how thrilled I was at the thought of having someone to live with again. Eeek! And if the roommate thing doesn't work out, at least now that I've seen Claire again, I'll hopefully have somewhere to hang out when I'm bored and need a friend:) Also (hilariously), Claire and I came to discover that Andrew and Claire's dad are in the same all men's cooking club. Small world indeed.

So overall, I'm feeling a little better but still missing home. Its nice to still be out of town this week and away from my lonely apartment. And so much to look forward to when I get back into town next weekend: Claire's house, Sarah's cookoutpalooza and Andrew will finally be back in town! I've missed him a lot and can't wait to see him again..I hate to be sappy, but its true!

I hope everyone had a glorious weekend and a not so bad Monday so far!

Beachy weekend

Another deliciously long weekend is over, and I'm back in the office again. I feel really great today...something about a day off, seeing the ocean and spending a little time with my parents has re-energized me. I'm sure I have Spring to thank for some of the feeling too.

It's nice coming back to work today after having been out of the office for over a week. I really enjoy the travel portion of my job. Even though I'm still working (sometimes longer hours than I actually put in at the office), the change of scenery is so good. I don't care if I get sent to backwoods-wherever, its still nice to get out and see a new little piece of the world.

The weekend getaway was great. We got to Savannah Friday night, and spent all day Saturday riding trolleys all over town, walking by the river front, and eating. Highlight of the weekend (or of my life in general): eating at Paula Deen's restaurant, The Lady and Sons. Holy hell, it was amazing. Some of the best fried chicken I have ever tasted in my life, and everything else was great too. Sunday we went to Tybee Island, the nearest beach to Savannah and where most Atlantans go to the beach. It was nice--very secluded, but lots of gorgeous, flat sand. Not a whole lot to do, which would be fine in the summer, but since it was still a little chilly this weekend, we couldn't exactly lay out by the pool or go into the ocean. Oh, well. It was still a great place to go to relax, and I hope I get to go back soon! Pictures to come later:)

This week is only a 3 day work week for me! Friday is my usual flex day, so I get to have yet another long weekend. Lucky me:) I hope everyone had a great Easter. I know I'm excited to wear all my summer whites and seersuckers now!

Long weekend--hooray!

I got to come home from Alabama yesterday after all! Yay! Unfortunately we didn't get to leave AL until about 5 pm Eastern time, but we booked it back home and made really good time to Atlanta. I was back in my apartment by 8pm. Awesome. I dumped my stuff off and went to dinner with A. He took me to this awesome Mexican place he had been to before--very authentic and everything is ala carte, so you can try a bunch of different things at once. It was very tasty.

Today I'm finishing up some work from the "home office". It was so nice to sleep in a little bit today. And my parents are coming down later this afternoon so that we can head to Savannah and Tybee Island for Easter weekend. Double Yay! I am so excited for some relaxation and I can't wait to stick my feet in the sand. Mmm, I'm happier already just thinking about it.

I hope y'all have a fantastic (hopefully) long weekend. I'll be back to the grind and back to the blog next week!

Alabama is boring. At least being here this week for work is boring. There isn't anything to do except eat, and the pickin's are slim for that too. Although I have to admit I had some of the best blackberry cobbler of my entire life last night at a place called "Peach Park". The whole trip was worthwhile just because of that:) I clocked some serious time on the phone last night too, which is good. Being stuck in a hotel in the middle of nowhere forces me to catch up with people! Also, its very conducive to lots of wonderful sleep!

I'm happy its already Wednesday. Only one or two more days here, and then I'll be back to ATL then off to Savannah and Tybee Island! I am super excited. Need to remember to charge my camera for the occasion. Maybe I'll run into myfood idol Paula Deen!

The South Should Not Be This Cold.

Quick update from out of town:

I'm in Clanton, Alabama this week on business. Its a small town--smaller than the last place I was in Alabama, and that's saying a lot. Yesterday afternoon I noticed that one of the biggest restaurants here is a Chinese buffet. In a barn. I don't think I need to even continue. Things are going well, and I'm here with a bigger group of my co-workers, so we've been having a good time. Last night we went out for Mexican food (to one of the very, very few restaurants in town) and I had a delicious pina colada. Hopefully we'll be able to forage for enough food to keep us going the rest of the week without having to eat at the same place every meal. Also, it was 12 degrees colder in Alabama this morning than in BOSTON. Snow flurries last night in ATL! Global warming is not real. Period.

I had an excellent weekend. Went out for dinner to Mellow Mushroom with some new girl friends on Friday night and ate way too much delicious pizza and cinnamon sugar pretzels. Saturday and Sunday I mostly hung out with Andrew. It was the first weekend in a long time that we were both in town and actually free. Saturday was glorious--shorts weather, I had Krystal for the first time, played skee-ball, won a stuffed animal out of one of those claw machines, went to the Aquarium and had dinner downtown at this crazy/tacky island place and split a giant fishbowl drink with extra long straws. Excellent day overall! Sunday I was mostly lazy...packed for my trip and cleaned a little. A and I went out for sushi and saw Fast & Furious. Seeing that movie took me straight back to early high school when the the first one came out. Back when I was hopelessly in love with Paul Walker...sigh.

I'm hoping this week will go by quickly--and it probably will, since I'm out of the office. It's already Tuesday! Can't wait for warmer weather, Savannah and the Beach for Easter weekend!!, hanging out with my parents and eating as many Reese's peanut butter eggs as possible. YUM. Hope you all had a great weekend too, and have a happy Easter week! I'll update about my thrilling life when I can this week:)

What a snooze

I took a cue from Kristin, and read through a bunch of my blog posts yesterday. I cam to discover that I am so boring. Especially lately...everything has been very blah and a little bit of a downer. Granted, my life has sort of been a little bit of a downer lately, but thankfully I think that is turning around! I am finally feeling secure and happy again, back to my old self. Insert sigh of relief here.

I've got a little down time today, so I'm hoping to plan a few weekend getaways that I can look forward to. I definitely need to get back to Raleigh soon, maybe even a couple of times, and I want to try to get up to NYC to visit K before she leaves Manhattan forever (so soon!). Lots of excitement. Thank goodness for Spring and warm weather and the feeling that I actually want to get out of the house and explore again!

Good things about right now:
1. It's Friday! I think that deserves a list in itself.
2. I have a massage appt for tomorrow--the first one in forever.
3. The rain that is washing away all the nasty, evil pollen.
4. Some quiet time in the office.
5. Making travel plans to see the best people I know.
6. Bojangles french fry seasoning. Turns out it makes pretty much everything taste better.
7. Lunch dates.
8. Dinner dates with new friends.
9. Pretty nail polish.

Ugh, sometimes life just sucks.

I hate having to write this post after such an awesome week in Chicago. I had the best time there from last Sunday through Friday. I wish I had more time to explore the city and see all the great museums, but I enjoyed the class I went to for work. And I got to do a little exploring in the afternoons. A few highlights include: seeing the "Bean", Millenium Park, eating Chicago style pizza, walking up and down Michigan Ave and having dinner on the 95th floor of the John Hancock building. All my co-workers I met from all around the country were great, and I was so happy to have my mom with me for the week too. The weather was gorgeous (73 degrees last Tuesday--I'm pretty sure that is UNHEARD of for March in Chicago), and we had the best time. Pictures to come soon.

Unfortunately, the good time feeling didn't last long because when I arrived home on Friday night with my mom and dad I discovered my apartment had been broken into while I was away. Needless to say I was devastated and very upset. Thank God my parents were with me..I'm not sure I could've handled that on my own. They stayed for the weekend, and I thought I was alright to be by myself. I spent most of yesterday with A, who is officially the sweetest person in the world. I called him Friday to tell him what happened, and he told me he had a surprise waiting for me on Sunday that would make me happy again. He ordered all the Bojangles merchandise possible from the website--koozies, french fry seasoning, etc. He's the best. But then when I got home last night I absolutely could not sleep. I called my mom in the middle of the night, and she's coming back down to stay with me for a few days. I feel like a baby for having her come, but I'm really glad she'll be here. It's a shitty thing to have happen, but I still consider myself lucky and very blessed to be safe and not to have been home when it happened. My things can be replaced, I just want my sense of security back.

I hate feeling like this--upset, depressed, scared...whatever. I consider myself a very independent person, so this really had shaken me up. I'm trying very very hard not to let it get to me too much. I think I just need a little time before I feel back to normal again. It sucks that what should have been a fun weekend with my parents was ruined, and it sucks that my mom has to come back down here just to help me feel better. But, alas, there's not a whole lot more I can do. Sigh.

I'm so happy to be back at the office today! I haven't had a normal week here in a while, and I'm definitely happy to have my routine back today and a change of scenery from my apartment. I'm going to be in and out of training meetings all week, so I'm not sure how much I'll be on the blog, but I'll try to update with some pictures soon! And thanks to my friends who read this--its nice to be able to share things like this and know that there are lots of people out there who care about me:)

The most wonderful time of the year...

Atlanta has been invaded by ACC basketball and I couldn't be more pleased. I just read online that the WF team is staying at the W Midtown hotel, right near my office! So many Wake people so close by, its great! Again, I'm getting used to the fact that everyone here is not nearly as obsessed as myself. If I were still in high school, we wouldn't be doing anything today. We'd be sitting in our classrooms with the lights off and the games on tv. Gamecasting from my cubicle while everyone else is working just isn't quite the same atmosphere... Wake plays tonight at 7 versus Maryland. Should be an excellent game. I was also happy to see GA Tech win over Clemson yesterday. The ACC tournament is nothing if not full of upsets.

Enough about sports..its almost the weekend! I'm only working about a half day today, then I'm heading home to get myself organzied to go to Chicago next week for work! Can't wait for my first trip to the windy city, even though I know I won't have that much time to see anything and I'll be freezing my butt off. Travel is probably the number one reason I was really excited to get my job, and I'm very lucky to get to see new and (not so) exciting places on a regular basis. It should be a really fun week.

Tonight is date night with A, and we're going to a club he belongs to for dinner. I'm excited to get a little more dressed up than usual! Then we'll probably sit around and play wii for hours...the usual. Tomorrow I've got plans with a couple friends here in ATL, and of course plenty of bball viewing in between. Sounds like a heavenly weekend to me!