stuff i like

hat tip to christine:

"these are strange and breathless days, the dog days, when people are led to do things they are sure to be sorry for after." - tuck everlasting

potomania

if you don't know what potomania means, you don't have to google or guess b/c i'm going to tell you - it means 'a persistent and intense desire to drink alcoholic beverages to excess' (why has no one i know not discovered this word yet? would have come in handy in the past, like you know, 'my potomania is flaring up again, let's go out and rage this weekend').

potomania was also the theme of this weekend's trip to charleston for vin's rugby reunion. the official theme that is. the unofficial theme was 'delta sucks' (#deltasucks) as we had travel woes up the wazoo. we were scheduled to fly out of nyc at 7 on friday night. after the first round of delays, we sat on the tarmac while an intense thunder and lightning storm happened around us - causing the plane to shake and us to frantically call delta, other airlines, and finally a rental car place, as it quickly became clear we were not going to make our connection flight in atlanta.

we booked the car while we were still in nyc, which we were glad about, as we finally arrived in atlanta to discover that all flights to charleston were booked until 9 pm the next day and people were preparing to sleep in the airport. we were not pleased to discover that our weekend trip to charleston would turn into a weekend trip to atlanta if we continued to try to fly to charleston, so we picked up the rental car in atlanta around midnight, and drove the five hours across the (dark and somewhat sketchy) state of south carolina to charleston, arriving at 6 am in time to watch the sunrise over the cooper river from a dock. as vin said, sometimes you have to work to party.

grabbed three hours of sleep and then woke up to wander around king street and meeting street in charleston. hit up the charleston margaritaville store, where i wanted to buy everything and anything for sale, and then grabbed oysters and beer for lunch by the market (money quote: 'excuse me, i have to go party'). then the girls headed out to the beach and i took a much needed shower and a much needed nap so i could have dinner with my grandparents on the water.

met up with the girls at folly beach after dinner for a quick swim and some booze while the moon rose over the ocean, and then we headed to my new favorite dive bar called bowen's island down a dirt road on a creek. this place had plywood walls, mismatched chairs, and we were all in our sandy and salty bathing suit clothes from the beach. had some beer and seafood and then headed back to charleston, with a quick stop at sonic to buy $14 worth of cold beverages (also a subtheme of the weekend) and ice cream. this was my first trip to a sonic, after years of seeing sonic ads on tv despite the fact there are no sonics for miles in new england, and i have to say, it was worth the hype.

did some boozing back at the house (which was a gorgeous house btw - straight out of southern living.) - drank some strawberry daquiri and blue hawaiin boones (again - why do they bother making other flavors than snow creek berry? but boones is hard to find in nyc and beggars can't be choosers) and played drinking games and catch phrase and self-call (the opposite of never have i ever) until 4 am when the three hours of sleep from the night before caught up with me.

sunday we spent back out at folly beach, with a quick stop on the way home for the most amazing corn dog i have ever eaten and some damned good blue cheese coleslaw at jack's cosmic hot dogs before some more boozing while we waited for our flight to stop being delayed and take off (#delta sucks). made it back to nyc around 10, tired and sunburned but happy.

i am pleased to say i have been made an honorary member of the duke women's rugby team and am invited to future rugby events (primarily it seems b/c of the aforementioned boones drinking). it was a lot of fun and i'm glad to have had a chance to booze and tell some jokes with vin's friends from school, esp since she's been forced to do the same with mine so often. and it's clear that the sigma delts and sigma delt community have some kindred spirits in the duke women's rugby team. :)

and charleston - i just love it so much down there. it's beautiful, the history is a tangible part of the city, the lowcountry way of life is unique and i have fond memories of sailing (my mom's side of the family are big sailors), walking around the battery and visiting with my family while growing up. i'm glad to be on intimate terms with charleston, even if i am a (damn) yankee girl from new england ;-).

Thoughts from an airport

Yup - in an airport again. I'm starting to feel like laurak - who
always calls me when she's in airports enroute somewhere and walks
past a vera bradley display, bc apparently the things that remind
people of me is vera bradley and pirates. Hell of a combo.

This time I'm heading down to Charleston out of Laguardia. I'm
convinced this airport is run by idiots as it's a mad house in here
and there's no information about flight delays to be found for love or
money.

Went to see the 80s cover band Rubix Kube at a club in tribeca last
night. I'd heard amazing things about this band so I was excited to
check them out. They normally play on saturdays, and had added
thursdays for the summer. We went down after kickball and basically
had a private 80s rock show, as there were a handful of people there
and plenty of room to dance and sing. Mulley and megh joined for the
fun, as did hearn, ece and some of the old coworkers (who I've decided
to continue referring to as coworkers - it's just easier.). I have the
stamp from the venue on my inner forearm and it's making me glad I
never got a tattoo there - I keep being distracted by it. However, the
band lived up to its reputation in my opinion and I would highly
recommend. Although it may not be as much fun on a crowded saturday
night.

--
Sent from my mobile device

the good old days

in games of 'either or' some of the same scenarios come up over and over again. in fact, occasionally i'll be thinking of something and think 'that would be a good either or' and try to remember it for the next time we play (rarely works) just to have a new, thought-provoking scenario to present. one that comes up a lot is 'blind or deaf'. i can see the argument for choosing deaf over blind but my life, life in general, would just not be the same without music. so i always choose blind. 'without music life would be a mistake'.

as i think i've mentioned, real simple sends these e-newsletters with tips and info and sometimes sends 'real simple asks' questions that are usually somewhat thought-provoking. i'm filing them away to use as inspiration for blog posts and it kind of reminds me of AP english senior year of high school where we had to do a writing prompt every friday in preparation for the AP english test at the end of the year. (note: these got old after awhile and one day when we had a teaching sub we threw them out the window instead. i know. rebels without a cause). but these real simple questions are good subjects for blog posts.

today's question: what did you want to be when you grew up?

first off, who said i'm grown up? generally describe it as 'growing older but not up' in the words of jimmy buffett, but for the sake of the post, i will consider myself grown up. when i was little i really liked science and hated english. now that i'm 'grown up', it is the complete opposite as i am good at english and terrible at science. but back in the day i hated english b/c we had to do repetitive lessons of 'inference' or 'story arcs' or 'fill in the blank' worksheets and it was DULL. (mind you this was like 1/2nd grade). i liked science though, and wanted to be an scientest. such that when my first grade teacher was cleaning out her classroom i got the book 'so you want to be a scientist'. book was all of 20 pages long, but i loved it. not sure when that dream died.

i also used to want to be a waitress. i know - this is stupid but i wanted to be one in the same way that kids romanticize jobs b/c you get to wear pretty clothes or do 'glamorous' things or whatever. my grandmother worked as a hostess in a restaurant so i spent a fair amount of time there and always got cherries from the bartender and desserts from the kitchen. who wouldn't want to be in that environment? i thought waitressing was the greatest thing and for like four years in a row i was a waitress for halloween with leg warmers, a dancers skirt and leotard (seems i was confusing waitress with dancer - hmm). and then i spent 10 years bussing, hostessing and waiting tables in restaurants in high school and college - see! dreams CAN come true!

kind of funny to revisit these old memories of when 'what do you want to be when you grow up' wasn't such a pressure-filled question. one of my favorite movies - under the tuscan sun - advises us to 'never lose our childish enthusiasm'. i'm sure i have those leg warmers somewhere.

have you any dreams you'd like to sell?

post title is a lyric from 'dreams' by fleetwood mac - been having some pretty vivid dreams lately. i had one the other day where me and my siblings (i have three) were on a roller coaster, that was a little bit more like a ski lift than a roller coaster, and i'm not the hugest fan of roller coasters, so i really wanted to have my childhood stuffed animal with me. (in this case, it's a stuffed snoopy, that yes, i still have and sleep with - except when i have company! - along with my baby blanket). we got on the coaster and started going on the track over what was essentially an african plane like you do at busch gardens or something and it was actually not bad or too scary at all. i just remember feeling very apprehensive and stressed in the dream and wanting my snoopy with me.

i'm sure these feelings have to do with work - today i've been at the new gig for a month. reflecting on things, getting up to speed with the new job has been a lot like starting a waitressing job at a new restaurant. you know how to do the work, but you have to learn where the extra salt is, memorize the types of red wine and the vegetable options and you don't know your way around the computer to put the order in and when you mess up an order no one in the kitchen wants to help you fix it fast b/c they have no idea who you are and they haven't decided if they like you yet (i worked in restaurants all through high school and college). everything takes twice as long and is twice as stressful as it should be. i told this to my brother, who incidentally is starting his own job pretty soon - (moving to kentucky to work in a sales leadership program at ge believe it or not) - and he said (also a restaurant veteran) that i should just make friends with the guys in the kitchen and all will be well. working on it.

was just listening to 'carolina in my mind' by james taylor - which has the great lyric 'there ain't no doubt in no one's mind that love's the finest thing around.' and the song is fitting as i gear up for a weekend in the lowcountry. that sounds like a contradiction in terms.

Things I thought about today

- five minutes of abdominal work can be just as painful as 30 minutes

- I work at chelsea market now - a nifty, cool place that used to be the Nabisco factory (wikipedia it) there are all sorts of baked goodies and treats there - my favorite so far is called 'fat witch' - a brownie company. They have the best brownies and the cutest logo and from 5 to closing everyday the unwrapped brownies are half off. I had a lemon square today and it was heavenly.

- more and more people are on foursquare these days, and I have been for a couple months now, but I have some rules like no checking in to your own house/apt, mainly for the privacy thing, and checking into cabs is cheating. Incidentally, 4sq is essentially legalized stalking. I'm 'friends' on 4sq with a few people it would prob behoove me not to be friends with, seeing how it's hard to pretend someone doesn't exist when they keep popping up on your 4sq.

- continuing to listen to lots of 90s music in the aftermath of the party this wknd, particularly 'I'll be missing you' - the precursor to mash-ups I think. Also put on a pandora station of 90s, rediscovering in the process a station ceppos made called 'feels like I'm in the sd basement'. First three songs were 'poker face', 'disturbia' and 'my humps'. Well done pandora (and ceppity cepp).

--
Sent from my mobile device

summertime blues

hi friends - anyone else baking like a toasted cheeser (sandlot quote) in the now late july heat? i've always liked quotes about months and seasons, and one of my favorites pertains to july: 'july was the month when summer, like bread in the oven, might change color but it would rise no higher. it was at its height.' unfort in nyc it still has a fair ways to go.

was fortunate enough to get out of the city to the beach for a couple hours yesterday for kit's birthday celebration in southport, ct. hung out on a raft for most of the afternoon drinking corona. it didn't suck to say the least. and i like this game where i get to go to the beach every weekend - including next weekend, as vin and i are headed down to charleston, sc for her rugby reunion. charleston is also where one set of my grandparents live, so i'm going to do dinner with them and my aunt and uncle and assuage the guilt i feel about never going down to visit. (i love them, but it's not the easiest place to visit without the rest of my family).

speaking of vin, she is definitely headed to london for work. she leaves the first week of august, which as we both well know, is rapidly approaching. last night we threw our last house party - theme of '90s beach party. i made an awesome playlist (think cranberries, harvey danger, no doubt, spice girls) of 90s music, which alone made the party a success. saw a lot of people - mulley, megh (who is headed to chicago for bschool in a few weeks), huyett with her bro in tow fresh from a dave matthew's concert (fitting with the theme!) as well as some kickball kids, some old coworkers and the nyc usual suspects. i discovered a bottle of diet coke under the sink when i went to put the pots and pans away - vaguely remember someone wanting to hide it. unclear.

and on the topic of usual suspects, i had dinner on thursday with maynard, robin, brogiin and huyett. maynard was in town from colorado for a wedding this weekend. brogiin has been in nyc but had not seen her until thursday. she's got one more year of law school, but she's spending the fall in italy and then in south africa (tough life!) and dating a boy from school who calls atlanta home. she thinks it's a matter of time before she ends up in atlanta as well, so perhaps she's trying to get some time in other cities under her belt before that happens.

as for me, doing dinner with ceppos, cody and vin this week, have a party for work, and we're going to see the 80s cover band 'rubix cube' on thursday before heading south on friday. going to try to post more frequently, even if it's just to swing by and say hi. lots of observations and thoughts to share as you all well know.

24 hrs in the Green Mountain State

Hanging out in the Burlington airport, waiting for my flight back to
NYC. This not a big airport in any sense of the word, and people are
irritated bc of travel delays up and down the East Coast.

Yesterday was a long day of partner meetings and dinner. It's hard to
be friendly, polite and interested all the time; ended the day with a
pretty bad headache.

It has been fun to be in Burlington though. Only other time I've been
here was a trip we took around christmas junior fall, and I flew
through Burlington on my way back from Costa Rica after spring break
senior year, a fiasco of a trip involving (unsurprisingly) lingley.
(Jk lings).

We stayed right down by the lake in a real cute part of town.
Burlington is VERY Vermont: there was a tree farmers convention in the
hotel, and I heard on the (country) radio station that they're giving
away eco friendly toothbrushes at the local baseball game. Of course
they are.

But it's a pretty cool little city, and almost has me wishing I had
looked at UVM for college. It looks like it would be a blast to go to
school here, not the least bc there are hot guys everywhere. I'm not
even kidding. And of course the scenery is beautiful and the food is
delicious. Had some squash blossom fritters with dinner last night
(stuffed with cheese - amazing) and ate breakfast at 'the skinny
pancake' creperie this morning. Eggs, bacon and cheese in a crepe.
Amazing.

Has me thinking about soph summer a bit, as the atmosphere is similar
to hanover in summer, and about the time I went to running camp at st
johnsbury in hs. The camp advertised that every run was past a
different type of cow, and ended by a stream we could soak our legs
in. Lots of cows, fields and sunflowers.

Back to the airport - everyone carries their luggage on board these
days, and they're always making announcements about how you get one
suitcase and a personal item (laptop OR purse). I'm a girl. I have a
purse. I'm travelling for business. I have a laptop. Seems a little
unfair to me that I can't have all three, esp as I doubt this is much
of an issue for guys.

--
Sent from my mobile device

Bermuda High

Hello friends! I'm reading departure signs in laguardia airport,
waiting for a flight to burlington, vt to meet with a partner for
work. Getting a huge kick out of the fact work is taking me to
burlington, and not at all sorry I get to spend some time in new
england!

I know I've been remiss in my blogging - may I humbly suggest you opt
to follow me on twitter? I seem to be much better at summarizing my
thoughts in 140 characters or less.

A bermuda high is the weather pattern we have to thank for the
ridiculously hot and humid conditions we've had over the last few
weeks. Really pleased to say I got a week reprieve thanks to my trip
to the cape last week. Love that sea breeze, and the 6 straight days
of beach time more than made up for last year's cold and rainy 4th of
july, though I am peeling pretty unattractively.

Vin and rowena came home with me for the long weekend, and we enjoyed
some beach time on sampson's island and stuffed our faces with lobster
at the raw bar.

Went over to nantucked on sun for the 4th to meet up with pj and his
brother. Headed out to surfside beach for the afternoon and had dinner
with his parents. Perfect day for ferries, beaches and fireworks.

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful - I did a fair amount of
manual labor for my parents - including water sealing our wrap-around
deck and cleaning out the barn (aka garage). Didn't mind too much as I
didn't have anything better to do, I got to listen to my favorite
radio station, was outside in the sun and the work required no thought
whatsoever. Nice change of pace.

Christine and I went back to the raw bar on wed for their lobster
special - twin lobsters for $21.95. Stuffed our faces (again) and I
think I FINALLY got me a lobster fix. :)

Headed back to NYC on sat for hearn's bday celebration - beer olympics
- and I was awfully glad to wake up in my bed on sun and not have to
be hungover on a bus.

I don't have my headphones on while I'm hanging out in the airport,
and I'm sort of inclined to think that I would interact with more
people more often if I didn't have them in. Or maybe now that I'm in
acct management or more inclined to be friendly and polite. Who knows.
Time to put my best foot forward and head north. Catch you on the flip
side.

--
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