it's all lobster and ice cream

christine and i were sitting at the raw bar last night having some lobster to stave off the sunday scaries and the traffic heading off cape. i commented that it was pretty hot in boston. her response was, 'want to get ice cream'? that kind of sums up my lovely weekend.

friday night chris had a friend's bday party so we went over to brighton to a hibachi grill place that does karaoke in the basement. it was deemed a dressy occasion by the birthday girl, so i was in a party dress and he wore a tie. we figure we don't get to dress up very often so we might as well do it. i sang a spiritual rendition of 'anything for love' (the less annoying and way better meatloaf song if you ask me) and chris actually got up and sang beastie boys as well. he's a v musical person (played the bassoon in the d wind ensemble! i always mix it up with oboe but i think i've got it right this time) and knows the lyrics to many songs but doesn't think he can sing. the scorpion bowls were flowing though so he get up and did some karaoke. believe me when i say it was a big deal.

sat i zipcared on down to the cape to see the fam and have some beach time. i stopped off at the osterville public library that has this great used bookstore in the basement. i adore buying used books. something about the rush of finding something good to read i think. i read so fast (#selfcall) that i never have enough material so stocking up on beach reading is a must. i did recently invest in a kindle for my trip to europe - i'm liking it but it def hasn't replaced the thrill of the used bookstore hunt.

i got the da vinci code and angels and demons to reread - my recent trips to paris and rome had me in the mood to learn a bit more about some of the places we saw when we were there. i also picked up an issue of the now-defunct cape cod compass from 1968. feature stories include 'so you want to buy a house on the cape' and 'nantucket's quiet revolution'. for the record i'd say nantucket won.

sat night we went down to dennis to go to sesuit harbor cafe and christine came to join us. this is a place my parents have become fond of - it's basically a byob fish shack in a marina. in my opinion the best seafood comes from shacks in marinas. we had some amazing oysters on the half shell ('eating an oyster is like french kissing a mermaid') and enjoyed the view while sipping on these alcoholic seltzer adult beverages christine discovered (highly recommend the cranberry flavor) and 6% ABV). then we headed back to yarmouth to a place called bass hole.

sesuit harbor aka 'dinner w a view'

grey's beach aka 'bass hole'

bass hole or grey's beach is on the bay side of the cape and has a long boardwalk out across the marsh. we took a stroll and stayed for some of the sunset before heading back to the foxhole for beer and fooseball. jill came to join us after her shift at wimpy's and we had some 'gansetts and played some fooseball like the old days.

christine and i were talking about it and boy did we have some great summers on the cape while we were in college. skinny dipping, beach days, ice cream, enrique, boozing and having some laughs - 'never forget your summers'. :)

sunday i joined christine and her parents out on their new boat. they literally got it on friday so they were still testing the waters so to speak but we had a delightful time boating and boozing and strolling on samson's island while being v glad to be by the water (you could cut the air w a knife). we ran in to a d alum on the island and it turned out that not only did the first doctor in cotuit live in christine's house (circa late 1880s) but he also was a d alum. we're everywhere.

we waited out the traffic at the raw bar and then zipped back up to boston to be home and in bed by 11:30. it's so trippy to me how easy it is to go to the cape now that i live in boston. after years of multiple hour trips back and forth from NYC to the cape being able to go down for the day or a night is such a treat.

in other news, my sister is pregnant and her due date was yesterday, so we're all waiting eagerly for news from houston on when we will become aunts and uncles (talk about trippy). christine and i will be heading out to gillette stadium on friday to see taylor swift in concert. we're chaperoning four 13-year old girls so it is sure to be amusing. chris is running a marathon on friday outside boston in an attempt to qualify for boston next year - wish him luck.

and it is hazy, hot and humid in new england at the moment but in general it's all lobster and ice cream. :)

seven days without a blog post makes one weak

so. went to try to post this morning and my computer would not cooperate which leads me the sad state of affairs of blogging at work. but this week has been dull as dishwater while waiting for the new mobile guy to start so i don't think it hurts.

last week at this time i was on the chinatown bus en route to boston. in fact, i was almost there. last thursday night was my big boss's going away party and it was RIDIC. we were on the roof of the empire hotel on a gorgeous night and the party was in full swing. when the boss who hired you is leaving you just can't say no to tequila shots, so it was no surprise that i blacked out and have no recollection of how i got home. according to hearn, i just grabbed my stuff and left without saying goodbye. let it not be said that i don't know when to leave a party.

by some miracle of god i woke up at 5:30 on friday to finish packing in time to make a 6:30 am bus to boston. there's a good chance i was still drunk, but met up with christine for the drive to the cape. the gods truly were on our side all weekend, b/c we just made the 1:55 fast ferry to nantucket (literally, last people on) after unforeseen delays, traffic and general annoyingness. it was a gorgeous spring day in new england - sunny if a bit chilly. when we arrived on the island we found keena and headed out to madaket so i could take a shower and we could collect our thoughts. then we headed to cisco brewery (nice beer if you can get it) where we proceeded to sit at the bar, play 'shut the box' and drink several rounds of drinks to the sound of the bluegrass band outside.

by the time we left we were fast friends with the bartender, to the point that we paid $11 for seven shots, had told him we had 'magic boobs', gotten him to participate in a disguise montage (i maintain, you never know when you're going to need a disguise) and invited him to join us at cambridge street later on. after some dinner, the night ended with us taking pictures in the triple eight vodka booze bus (pretty sure it's illegal for a drunk person to sit in the driver's seat of a vehicle, even when it's not moving, but we didn't get caught so) and keena driving us home to madaket while blasting lady gaga's 'alejandro'. side note: i adore being a passenger in a car when i'm drunk and the music is blasting. love love love it!

sat morning dawned clear and sunny and we got up and headed in to town for the daffodil parade. main street was filled with antique cars decked out in their daffodil best. everyone was dressed up in daffodils, complete with wide-brimmed hats (memo to self: get one stat). we cheered the cars on as they left for 'sconset, and then headed to 'something natural' for sandwiches for the picnic before driving out to 'sconset to join in the merriment. we also went to check out the daffodil show put on by the nantucket garden club. keena won several awards for her daffodils, and we learned that 'not all daffodils are created equal' from a display about sub-par daffodils not worthy of being in the show (hint: count the petals - there should be six - and keep the stems long).

post daffodil fun we went back to madaket to hang out on the beach with keena's corgi 'maggie' and then got dressed to go to dinner at 'sfoglia'. apparently there's another 'sfoglia' on the upper east side, not far from our apt, but according to ny magazine, it doesn't measure up to the original on nantucket. post-dinner the only option was the 'chicken box', where we danced the night away to the sounds of an amazing cover band. the band is based in nyc so i think i'm going to have to go to one of their shows. the music was awesome - i kept sticking my beer bottle in the back pocket of my jeans so i could air guitar, with the sad result that my jeans were covered in booze, but i think it was worth it. in between sets the (hot) lead singer got a mohawk, which, while it may have decreased the value of his stock, was still pretty cool. all in all, we danced our faces off.

sunday had a delicious brunch of lobster eggs benedict in town, and then a quick stop at brant point for some senior pictures in the rain and then we were the stand-by of stand-bys for the 3 PM ferry, and still managed to get on (the gods love us!). i spent sunday night at home on the cape with my parents, where i discovered my parents are certifiably crazy as they have installed solar panels, a security system, and were increasing their poultry flock by four baby ducks. yes. i held a baby duck on sunday. i can never bring a boy home.

still, it was great to be home, if even for a little bit, and then i headed back to boston with christine and back to nyc. all in all, a fantastic trip, with great company and good memories.

back in nyc it's been a long week. things are up in the air/in a holding pattern (could i use anymore aviation terminology?) at work; still waiting to find out what the management changes mean for me. in the meantime, embarking on a familiar interview journey with a company i've interviewed with before. this time around i think i really want the gig, which puts added pressure on the gauntlet. best foot forward and we shall see i suppose. always do.

stay classy friends.

the privileged class enjoying their privileges''

five bucks and respect if you know what the title quote is from*, payable on demand.

had a very enjoyable trip out to east hampton this past weekend, despite my initial misgivings (see previous post). it was very interesting to watch the scene at penn station at 4 pm on friday afternoon: old people in designer collared shirts and teenagers running around giggling in juicy cotoure and such. you got the sense this was a ritual and everyone present was in on the joke. i feel like i understand new york a lot better now.

it's a long trip out there - took 2.5 hours - but trains are such a dignified way to travel. met up with will when we arrived and headed back to his house. his parents were in iceland, so he and his sister (an '07 from princeton) had invited a bunch of people out for a house party.

spent most of the weekend drinking and laughing with a bunch of psi u's at various lounging locations. i think everyone needs a concentrated dose of dartmouth people like this every few months. i missed the comraderie and what i've been thinking of as 'grown up' comraderie - ie hanging out with kids who are not '08s - as our behavior was def not textbook 'grown up'.

went skinny dipping at the beach down the road on friday night. it had poured earlier in the night, and while us dartmouth kids drank a lot, the princeton kids played board games. literally. 'sorry' and 'backgammon' and this weird one 'settlers of catan'. they also did not want to come skinny dipping, even though it was a warm night and the moon was this incredible yellow color in the sky.

sat was a goregous, perfect day - sunny and hot without being too muggy. we went on a trip to get the kegs in bridgehampton (the hamptons have incredible radio stations b/c they get nj, ri, ct and li stations). money quote from will (former social chair): 'there's a combined total of 6 million dollars worth of ivy education back at the house. if we can't figure out how to tap a keg, there's a problem.'

got to see a bit of the area on the drive. there's a ton of farming that happens on long island, and we saw lots of vineyards as well. sort of struck me as a mix of vermont and italy, with wide open fields and things growing. the landscape of the cape is more shaped by the ocean. everything is wind-swept, and sun-bleached, although barnstable along route 6a would prob be comparable to the hamptons.

lay by the pool, went to the beach, grilled and had a kegger on sat night. no rain, but the bugs were vicious (we were without ketchup and bug spray - fail) and my legs are covered in bug bites. sun was a gray day with the threat of rain, so more sitting around and joking ensued until we headed back to the city around 6.

i'm def glad i went - it was a nice break from the city and fun to visit somewhere new. and i love house parties - they're super fun. plus, won't see will for a bit, as he is off to drive cross-country to law school in oregon.

speaking of house parties, my parents are furious at me and my brother for having people over while they were gone during the 4th (that is to say, he had people over and i let him). to say they are overreacting is an understatement (threatening to not pay tuition? um - yeah) it's rather stressful while simultaneously i am finding it hard to take seriously b/c i just don't agree with their decision or response. however this is now about managing the response, not what happened. i hate being responsible.

last but not least, last week's launch went as well as it could. was at work until 4 am, but as a one-off night that's not too bad. vin, by comparision, has been working until 2 or 3 most nights. glad to have it over and looking ahead to what's next for work - both for projects and my career. but that's a posting for another time.

august is already ridic drama-filled and i don't like it. keep on plugging i guess.

*philadelphia story

i gotta go where it's warm(er)

hello friends - back in the saddle. my company was kind enough to give us martin luther king monday off, and vin and i took the opportunity to get out of town. we headed down to naples, florida to visit my grandparents.

very nearly missed the flight on friday night. was late getting out of work and was booking it to the airport. got to penn station and literally jumped on the first long island rail road train going to jamaica to catch the air train. my adreniline was pumping so fast. it's generally about an hour from work to the airport, but then, being a holiday weekend, the security line was aggressive. i owe someone somewhere a big favor for the kind people that allowed me to cut the security line b/c my flight was boarding and join vin, who had arrived not much earlier than me. we most likely would have made it if i had stood in the line, but given the lecture i received for losing my cell phone in a non-cell phone reception environment (ie woodstock, vt) last time we went to meet my grandparents, i didn't think they'd appreciate this one. plus, what was vin going to do at my grandparents without me? moral of the story is a miss is as good as a mile and all's well that ends well, but def used up some of my accumliated karma points on that one.

people were very jealous when they heard we were heading south for the long weekend, but i kept on telling them that we were going where it was warm(er), not necessarily warm per se, which proved to be true. the sun was frequently warm but the wind was chilly. we had a very relaxing vacation - nothing too exciting - just a fair amount of beach time, two sunsets on the gulf of mexico, hot tubbing, good food, booze and visiting with the grandparentals. poor vin was subjected to all the family skeletons, lectures on the stock market and marriage, and even more dartmouth than normal. she took this in stride and good humor and my grandparents are really quite a bit of fun/still with it, which makes it a bit different than most trips to the grandparents i think. plus, i'm the oldest grandchild they have, which means i'm a little tiny bit their favorite. i lived with them for two months on my off-term junior year - we're close. anyway, vin professes that she had a good time and has yet to say anything about not wanting to be my roommate anymore b/c of my weird family so i'd say we're doing well.

spent most of yesterday outlet shopping. in fact, we took the shopping to an aggressive level over the weekend, which i knew would happen, but my poor budget. austerity plan for me in the words of boxa, but got some good deals and are pretty pleased all around with the purchases. i would total up the savings if i could bring myself to look at the receipts.

we encountered the sandcastle to the left on the ritz carlton beach during our two-hour beach walk on sunday morning. have a special relationship with the beach and with the ocean, not surprising being a cape cod girl i suppose, but in the words of jimmy buffett, 'it cleans me out and then i can go on'. wanted to include a quote from a book i appreciate more and more every day for the perspective it offers in a language i can understand - 'gift from the sea' by anne morrow lindburgh:

the sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. to dig for treasures shows not only impatience and greed, but lack of faith. patience, patience, patience is what the sea teaches. patience and faith. one should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach - waiting for a gift from the sea

woke up at 4 this morning to catch the flight back in time for work, so heading to bed shortly, but delightful all around. watched the inaugaration like everyone else in the world - i literally sit in the middle of a newsroom which makes it hard to avoid breaking/major news events. my overarching thought was all those women must have been damn cold with skirts and flimsy jackets. did make me proud to be an american though. good stuff.

it's always great to get away from nyc - even for an hour

so am due a post on the weekend as well - between today and yesterday, you lucky lucky blog readers hit the jackpot .

headed up to beantown on fri around 7 with vin. caught the fung wah, which i have become very zen about - accepting if you will of the trip and the time it takes. made it to boston by 11:30 which it seems is the opportune time to go out, even though the bars close earlier than nyc. we met ceppos at clery's in some area of the city (don't know boston all that well) and had some catching up to do, booze wise.

after being laughed at for ordering lemon drops (SHOTS SHOTS. apparently ordering a lemon drop DRINK is lame, but i think a full shot of vodka is not lame in the least) we pounded some drinks and went downstairs to dance, as boston, unlike nyc, has dance parties without pretension. about as sketchy as a chi gam dance party, but we all love a good dance party, and i maintain it is a vehicle for meeting people, which is nyc's big problem. no good reason to go talk to someone. let's go to a party and socialize exclusively with our friends is nyc's motto - i swear.

anyway, around closing time i had a new experience, in that i actually exchanged eye contact several times with a guy with a successful end result, though i'm not sure i've ever exchanged eye contact with a guy at all. we started talking and i ended up staying in dorchester (hi vin) for the night. cute guy, very irish, with a wicked boston accent. i asked him about 'the departed' - the way he said it was great. something about these irish boys. all in all - we decided that there must be something really attractive about the 'i just spent 4 hours on a bus' look, as it seems to get results. picking up guys in boston is like shooting fish in a barrel compared to new york.

anyway - he drove me back to the north end sat morning and am thinking how convenient this could be, as i travel through boston a fair amount. guy in every city as boxa likes to call it. only thing is, it's getting a little annoying that my love life is not in nyc. on a similar note, the georgetown '08 texted on fri night as well. of course. does he have some sort of radar to know when i leave the city? he only ever texts when i'm gone - which he has done about six times in the last four weeks. really? really?

diana came and picked us up and we road tripped down to the cape - stopping to spend $25 dollars at a drive-through only dunkin' donuts. (we were all big fans of d+ds in college. it was one of the few chains in htown) before making it to the cape and hitting long beach. diana just got a job in cali with her current company and is starting aug 25th - so between packing to move cross-country and being in elise's wedding in mid-august, she's got a full plate. so bummed she'll be on teh west coast full-time, but i suppose it's a good argument for going to san fran for labor day, which is my 5th tentative plan for that weekend - haha. other tentative plans include jb in dc, new orleans, nantucket and hiking the at. not all of those are viable.

the beach was GLORIOUS. must have gone swimming about six times. was so so happy to be there and not a city! had some seafood for dinner in hyannis, heard from laurak, who had been maintaining radio silence on the boat in san fran (other good reason to go to sf for labor day), and then headed out to the foxhole.

after some parking lot shenanigans (pic at left) and fooseball we went skinny dipping. it was a hot, clear night, almost full moon with halo shining around it. the water was warm and the air was warm and it was perfect. the way summer is meant to be.

hit up the beach briefly on sun after bfast and then headed back to nyc. my dad packed me up another tomato plant - this time in a carnation instant breakfast box - so we'll give this 'vegetable' thing another whirl.

am home alone because vin is off in cali for work. enjoying a respite from social activities for a change, but looking forward to the power hour we're hosting this weekend. lingley tried to get me to do a week detox with her, which i said i was happy to do, it would just have to wait until after the next two weeks, as have already scheduled drinking events. but the mini detox this week is going well. so nice to wake up and not be hungover. went out every night last week and it was brutal. time to give my liver a break.

tidbits

hello from cape cod! happy july as well!

interesting quote from the washington post article 'the city girl's
club, a hollywood establishment' - discussing how 'sex and the city's'
four-single women looking for love in manhattan is bringing back a
favorite hollywood theme dating (pun intended?) back to the thirties:

"Girls who come to New York are, above all, uncommitted. They seem to be girls who want to prolong the period when they can experiment, mess around, make mistakes . . . New York is full of people on this kind of leave of absence, of people with a feeling for the tangentialadventure, the risk adventure, the interlude that's not likely to end
in any double-ring ceremony"
- Joan Didion in 'Mademoiselle' 1961

part of me feels like this putting a much more glamorous spin on my
coming to nyc b/c i got a job - but it does seem to be a backdrop for
experimenting. lots of discussion of marriage and relationships at the
wedding of course, and the overarching theme i came away with was -
'i'm not ready to get married yet. i still have stuff to do'. so i
guess it fits in with that. =)

speaking of the wedding, it was a lot of fun when i wasn't thinking
about the fact that my friend is now a 'mrs.' which was just plain
weird. as touched on above, the whole experience brought up a lot of
conversations about love and marriage, etc.

headed up to boston on fri night to meet mulley, ally and ceppos at
the bhp in beacon hill. mulley was back in town for a wedding on the
cape on sat. ended up hanging out with maynard for the second night in a row and seeing reiten briefly as well. was joking that i don't ever have anything to do
between 7 and 11:30 on friday nights - should head up to boston more
often, esp as the entire bar was full of boys my type. oh boys from
new england. =)

drove down to the cape on sat with mulley and hit up the beach for a
bit before heading our separate ways for wedding festivities. had a
picnic at the bride's house on sat which was a lot of fun. played some
wiffleball and croquet and then hit up the foxhole with my sis to kick
some ass at fooseball. one of erin's friends needed a place to stay (he'd come up from new orleans) so he ended up at the foxhole with us.

sun we spent on the beach which was fabulous, and then headed down to
new seabury for the wedding. matt (erin's friend) was playing a drum
in the ceremony, so we were there early enough to hit up the raw bar -
a favorite of mine and christine's - before heading over. the ceremony
and location were gorgeous - the ocean was the backdrop and the beach
down a path. it rained during the ceremony and cleared for sunset -
typical cape weather.

had four seas brownie sundaes for dessert, danced forever and had a
great time visiting with people. post-wedding we went to someone's
condo on the beach and sat on the beach with the waves crashing in
total darkness staring out at the ocean. was AMAZING. perfect end to
the day. when it was time to head home we walked back along the beach
to where the cars were, and scaled two fences to get back to the
parking lot as it was 12:30 and everything was closed up. went through
the pool area and considered taking a dip, ala green key '06 when
laurak and i also considered going swimming in the gym as it was
deserted. i fully regret not doing it both times now, but i figured
getting arrested for trespassing in a dress and high heels wasn't
going to go well for anyone.

ergo - as long as i don't think about the fact that they're married,
weddings are a total blast. going to take some getting used to for
sure. super glad to not be in nyc - life is good. =)

i judge you when you use poor grammar

suppose i should update about the rest of the trip to the cape. as you all know, the trip up was hellish, but it's par for the course for a trip to the cape, and it was my own damn fault i was so tired for making tuesday the only night last week that i went to bed at a reasonable hour.

arrived at 2 am and received four drunk dials in the space of 15 minutes - two from slaine and kevin on the west coast, one from a graduating kid at d and the other from a kid who is never in nyc when i am and vice versa. had to be like - sorry friends - the last thing i want to do now is talk to drunk people.

the theme of my sis's graduation on sat was set by someecards: 'i judge you when you use poor grammar'.

observe:
1. the phrase 'most smartest' was used on two separate occasions by student speakers
2. someone said 'should have came'
3. painted on a car window along with 'bhs class of '08' was the phrase 'your cool.'

yeah.

hit up the foxhole on sat night with christine - played some foose and then ended up drinking beer at a random back patio in centerville (i'm outdoorsy in that i like getting drunk on patios). random but fun and i went to bed at 4 (sleep just doesn't seem to be in my future eh?).

sun got up and went to the beach where it was 85 and sunny with a great breeze off the ocean. the water was cold, but i forced myself to go in, knowing that soon i would be back in nyc where inferno-like temps are occurring. less than thrilled - when will this heat break? arrived back in nyc in a thunderstorm. awesome.

great to be home - hadn't been back since christmas - and i will be back there again in a couple weeks happily. we passed the 3-years-since graduation mark on sun - didn't think too much about it this year - senior week and similar activities seemed very far away. ah well - one year closer to the five year!

rock me on the water

well kids - what a difference a week makes eh? the nonsense of last week seems likes ages ago - but is in reality only a short seven days. who knows what's in store for the next one?

had a lovely time down in charleston - if you've never been, charleston is all about historic homes, boats, water, seafood and the SOUTH. (this last point is probably intuitive). they do things different down there. exhibit a - children in my grandparent's neighborhood playing with a gun in their front yard. yeah.

my grandparents/family are technically yankees - they moved from indiana when my mom was in high school - but my grandparents have lived down there long enough to make them decent transplants at least. thus, spent the long weekend walking on the beach on the isle of palms, eating shrimp creole, having an oyster roast, walking around the market and rainbow row on east bay street, taking a carriage tour of the battery and tooling about in my uncle's crosby (as in crosby yacht yard in osterville) striper under the cooper river bridge. we even saw dolphins. it's funny to have ties to a place like that - but it's cool too. i love it down there.

saturday morning i was fortunate (un?) to be on an oversold flight, most likely b/c it was the start of february vacation and kids were running rampant all over the airport. thus, i was able to get bumped and scored a free round-trip ticket to anywhere in the 48 contiguous united states - having a lovely time deciding where i want to go/who i want to visit!

back in the saddle with work stuff - kicked off by a meeting at work headquarters at 10 am yesterday. have two day offsite today and tomorrow - tonight we're going bowling in honor of the occasion (things i am not good at - bowling) and i have to present a massive presentation tomorrow morning at 10:30, which means i cannot do tonight's open bar justice (damn). feeling a bit like our parents are coming to school to see our project or something. if this goes well it will be really really good. and if it doesn't, well, am thinking positive thoughts. wish me luck!

we're moving march 1 - starting to gear up for that - and the big 2-5 is coming up - investigating party venues this wknd - stay tuned for information. looking forward to letting loose after the nonsense of february. it's gonna be good.

<--- the sunshine state

well kids - i owe you all an update - so i will sip guiness and type while i wait for my chinese food to arrive.

i have been remiss in updating mainly b/c i was in florida from sat to wed of last week. it was 85 and sunny the entire time, which i was scared to tell people for fear that they would hate me (they did). it was absolutely glorious to lie on the beach in the sun while the pelicans flew overhead and the waves lapped at the shore. it seems hard to believe i was there since i've been back in nyc, and yesterday and today felt like mon and tues - it's v. confusing that today is friday. hmmmm.

really the most amusing thing from my trip was the christmas parade we went to on tuesday night. we were sitting literally at the start of the parade and just about every float had TONS of candy they were flinging at the parade viewers. i've heard that they throw beads from floats at mardi gras, but i have to think that beads hurt way less than a peppermint to the eye. i kid you not though - just tons and tons of candy was being hurled our way. many of the throwers were young children, with no concept of how hard they were throwing or how much. it was like halloween only better - you didn't have to do anything to get the candy - just sit there and maybe holler 'happy holidays' every once in awhile. i about died laughing while this was happening. after awhile we got really snobby and particular about what candy we would pick up - and this went against everything your parents have ever taught you about not taking candy from strangers or picking it up off the street. really, it was too funny.

incidentally, as it is the wknd whether it feels like it to me or not, laurak is on her way to the city for a visit, as she is on the east coast on vacation from san fran. mulley will also be in town as she is back from london for the holidays. i think the next two weeks are my favorite out of the entire year - normal behavior is temporarily suspended, which i love, and people are running all around like mad men. it's fabulous.

other announcement - my youngest sister got into d early decision - she found this out on wed. she'll be class of 2012. do you feel old yet? i'm so psyched/jealous for her, although i can hardly remember what it feels like to have your whole d career ahead of her.

of course i acquired links - the first being my new favorite someecard/pick up line: 'you drink like you're single'. i know - brilliant right? and doesn't it just sum up d in a nutshell?

also stumbled upon dickopedia - check it out - hilarious. and one of my new favorite sites - 23/6 - 'some of the news, most of the time' - snarky news and commentary. love it. linking it at right so you can enjoy with your daily dose of procrastination.

as for me, i'm back in nyc for the next week - yankee swap at work - the coworkers are lobbying for the eggnogging to begin at 4 instead of 5:30 - cape on sat for christmas (how the hell did it get to be christmas already? soooooo much to do!) and then back to work thurs and fri in the city as the clock winds down on 2007. def a year that asked questions.

if anyone has ideas for what to get fathers or brothers send them my way thanks.

love the lovely friends

v. tired, but i did want to do a quick post, as tomorrow is monday and i feel that there are few other things so appealing on a monday morning as procrastination - thought you guys would appreciate it. =)

just got back from the cape - lingley peer pressured me into heading up her way on friday night, and she met me in boston and we drove down to the cape. v. relaxing, low-key wknd - thankfully the temperatures on the cape were MUCH cooler than nyc - the humidity here last week was BRUTAL - so we enjoyed the cool ocean breeze and the sound of planes flying overhead (when the wind is blowing in the right direction my house is in the flight path of hyannis airport) - nevertheless, a welcome change from garbage trucks and men on motorcycles with too much testosterone that you find here in nyc. lings got to meet my family, i believe she now understands why i am the way i are (if that's even possible)

got pedicures with christine on sat morning, and headed to the beach after some lawn mowing and laundry to help my mom get the new house ready for this week's renters. my parents just built a new house that they are currently renting out. in true lyon family fashion, they're doing most of it themselves. spent sat afternoon tanning, actually lingley tanned and i burned despite the spf 30. curses! and then we headed down to the raw bar in new seabury for some oysters on the half-shell and mudslides before meeting up at huyett's in falmouth.

huyett had rounded up some usual suspects - maynard, reiten, and then robin drove up to join us - it was a true usual suspect reunion. maynard, back from colorado for a brief vacation, cooked up some delicious vittles ala the dinners she used to cook for us at the edge senior year. robin, who i can never seem to catch up with here in nyc, had come up from westport where her family has a house. she's been bopping down to dc for work, but we plan to get together when brogiin moves to nyc from la at the end of the month! and reiten just started a new job at planned parenthood, which makes her much happier than her last job did, even if she never has free time to talk on gchat.

we all had some beers, some good food, burned the shit out of some eggplant on the grill. no one seemed to notice or be overly concerned about the fact the house was filling with smoke. hmmm. all's well that ends well i guess. played catch phrase and enjoyed the beautiful night that is early august on cape cod. skips also checked in in a way when she called me to say she was stranded in provincetown without a place to sleep, having thought she could find a room last minute on a saturday in the summer. was starting to be concerned that an hour-long drive down cape was in my immediate future when she called to say some of their friends from the ferry (they had no car) were taking them in. she didn't sound too concerned, though i haven't heard from her today, hope all is well on that front.

lings and i hit up the beach again today before a delicious lunch of fried fish and seafood kabobs. then we escaped the traffic leaving the cape for a dash up to boston where i caught the bus back to the city.

said bus is 4.5 hours long - 2 things i was reflecting on while traveling:

1. when you start dating, (actually, let's be honest, it's just hooking up) with someone new, when is it appropriate to mention certain predilictions you may have in the bedroom? take for example the pirate porn. when do i bust that out on someone? 'oh hey, i have this porn set in a pirate move (or is it a pirate movie set in a porn?) want to come back to my place to watch it?' is that a pick-up line in itself or something to save for when you've run out of positions and need something to spice it up? this is a puzzlement. i guess i'm about to find out whether springing it on someone early on works - as i did just that to this kid i had a great hook up with a week or so ago. the general reasoning was, if he can't handle that then i shouldn't waste my time right? will see how it goes.

2. two conflicting sayings - out of sight, out of mind and absence makes the heart grow fonder. which is it? i'm particularly interested, as the weeks drag on and my office crush shows no signs of making an appearance in nyc. he also is partially responsible for figuring out my job offer, which makes me uninclined to reach out to him for fear of committing a disasterous hr blunder. perhaps the difference btwn the two depends on what stage of the relationship you're in. if you haven't had a chance to fall hardcore for someone, you could prob care less if they're around (ie - what my office crush is thinking). but if you have, then you're already committed in a way, and the only thing you want is for them to come back to you - so i would imagine that would make the heart grow fonder. or (and this i know) make you want to cut out your heart so the pain of their absence goes away - but i don't think we're at that point with this yet.

so. to recap. great time this wknd - check out the pics on fb. we missed all of the usual suspects who couldn't be there and hopefully we can do it again soon. i really can't say enough how lucky i feel to have such a great group of friends. we fall back into it really easily, even if there aren't pong tables and a tv room to gather in. and for that i am incredibly grateful. =)

and though you are miles away, there are always two cups on my table

over and out

rise and shine

morning all! today is the day! the day i get to go HOME. i find it strange - when i was in college i never wanted to go home. and now that i'm in the real world, it's the only place i want to be. well, throw in home, with a mixture of the cape in the summer and who WOULDN'T want to be there?

had a great time over the wknd - vin stayed over and we went out friday night. hit up chelsea for dinner, the lower upper west side for some 'screw the dealer' and heinekens at her coworkers, and then down to the financial district to taylor's rooftop party - complete with atmospheric mooonlight lighting. celeste and one of her roomates joined us for that, and we later met up with some chi gams back in chelsea for more hanging out, finally ending the night eating pizza on 8th ave at 4 in the morning. solid.

have to give a shout out to little dolan - whom we saw at taylor's - and is a loyal (or bored) blog reader. i also heard from my coworker that she was at the beer garden in queens on sat as well. small world! hi dolan! thanks for reading! =)

we were at the bar in chelsea on friday night when i started talking to this guy. he had one of those orange wanna-be 'live-strong' bracelets on and when i asked him what it stood for he said his school. and i said what school and he said guess. so i guessed the obvious - syracuse? you know, the orange men? nope he replied. princeton? nope he replied. i gave up and he told me the OBVIOUS answer - illinois. not being from the midwest i was a little miffed - how was i supposed to know that - but it made me think about how little i know about the country. and affirmed once again that new england is clearly superior.

went to the beach on saturday at long beach on long island. HIGHLY recommend to all. simple to get to on the lirr, and gorgeous! we sat outside and sunned and i braved the temps to go swimming and there was a breeze and oh my it was wonderful. i can handle 90's in nyc if the beach is in my life - and it's looking like it will be for the rest of the summer - HOT. celeste, steger, vin and myself trekked out there -let me know if anyone wants to go!

back at it on monday - things are still up in the air about my job - but are hopefully coming to a conclusion before too long. my hopes that i had just made up the age conversation i had with my coworker at our office party on thurs were dashed when he responded to a query with this:

Chris: the beach is where its at
i want to be married on the beach and i want my ashes to be picked up
by the beach air (kind of like that sad scene in stealing home)
wait, you would've been 4 when that came out

rats. is that a brush-off? informal poll here. the oldest person i've hooked up with was 29 at the time - guys in their 30s are a whole different breed. stay tuned.

also - am loving the new tv show on usa - 'burn notice' about a spy who gets fired and has to figure out why. the guy is hot, it's set in miami, and the looks he gives the camera are priceless. recommend you check it out - new episoes thursday on usa (i'm watching too much tv)

also totally in love with the song - 'the way i are' by timbaland. ceppos turned me on to him and that song is my latest discovery. downloaded it on sat at 6:30 and have listened to it 51 times already. but as boxa knows, music overlode when it's something i like is my modus operendi. instant gratification.

i gotta have my music

send on-time flights and beach weather!

hot child in the city

<--- the beer sampler at the portsmouth brewery


wow - a lot has happened. slightly overwhelmed at reporting it all, so will start with the basics and see where that gets me.

had the world's most PAINFUL dental procedure this afternoon: a root cleaning. perhaps this is why root canals are so dreaded. there is nothing like having 20 needles jabbed into different parts of your gum to numb it to encourage you to floss your teeth - i swear to god. and the worst part is i have to go back in two weeks to have the bottom done. i'm telling you - go to the dentist. i would not wish this procedure on my worst enemy (and i have several who probably deserve it). it's the dental equivalent of rabies.

went to bed at 8 pm last night - it felt AMAZING. there is nothing i like better than going to sleep when i am tired. i have been tres busy with traveling and things of late - i needed to catch up on my rest.

headed up to boston last wknd for an sd reunion wknd in maine. took me 6 hours on the bus to get up there - freaking hate fridays in the summer. the only thing getting me through, besides my blackberry, was the knowledge that when i go home next week i am flying to boston - not bussing. not good for the budget but VERY good for the spirit. weekend was great - diana, ceppos and laurak were in attendence - we beached, we ate seafood, we drank, we shopped, we danced. really big fan of the seacoast area of maine/nh - it's where i was born and went to school for a portion of time - to me it is home - and it has lots of redeeming qualities like fields and woods and beaches. hit up the portsmouth brewery where laurak had the brilliant idea of ordering the beer sampler. we drank the beers shot style to toasts of friendship, panhellenicness and legendary stories. like roast and toast on a mini scale. no one was taking notes, but they were the kind of thing that people don't often express - and i think that's too bad - so it was nice to hear the praises and redeeming qualities of friendship sung. saw elise briefly the night before for some pizong - she and the boy are in cambridge for awhile - they just bought a house! - and she starts school in the fall, but for now she is waitressing and happy to be back in new england and hopefully will be getting down to nyc before too long.

the week before last i was in california for an incredible trip. i think i can safely say that i have 'done' la - was all over the place. we stayed at the beverly hills hilton - could def get used to the room service and the pool! - spent a lot of time in santa monica - played pirate minature golf on the santa monica pier with my coworkers - arrrrlene, no-beard the pirate and my alter-ego - swashbuckling sam. we also rode the carousel - which aside from being a national historical monument is the carousel from the sting (fabulous! movie. oooo robert redford). we also sang impromptu karoke to the bus driver's music on the bus to the walk of fame, and had amazing seats at the dodger/mets baseball game - field level - total blast with the co-workers - major bummer we're not going to be working together for much longer. i drank like a fish - about on par with senior spring and i think i need a new liver.

my coworker and i also got a vip tour of the universal back lot - absolutely incredible - def recommend it if you're ever out there. basically, it's all these sets that they use when filming movies within an acre or so. so you're going down a 'street' of nyc and then turn the corner and it's the old west, and then mexico, and then europe. and then around that corner is the greek acropolis. truly unreal. there's also an incredible set of the downed 747 scene from war of the worlds. it looks so realistic it's scary. and we're tooling all around this incredible area on a golf cart vip style. was suddenly glad i worked for a major media company. see the fb album for pics. all is extensively documented thanks to the new digital camera that ceppos showed me how to work. ;-P

stayed out there the wknd with a friend of mine from high school - spent the day at the beach, drove up the pacific coast highway for some scenic views and had dinner in malibu. whirlwind but totally cool. that being said - i do not think that i want to move out there, so for the time being, job permitting, i am staying on the east coast.

busy wk continues - drinks tomorrow night with coleman and celeste, signing-off party for our company on thursday - expect that to be out of control. my boss asked me if i was getting ready for it today - i told him yes, i was eating lots of carbs and checking the weather to see if i should wear my hair up or down. =) party at taylor's on friday and then beach on sat on long island with vin, celeste and steger. and then home next tuesday for a needed vacation.

more updates: boxa is in england with her family for henley - she's taking a break from ann arbor where she's working an internship for the summer and smooching on boys. laurak, having finished her sailing stint, is en route to camp for the summer. post-summer is up in the air. i talked to allette while lounging by the pool in cali - she's still enjoying camp and she got another promotion - but she is trying to figure out a time to come back to visit - hopefully soon! lingley is also going to come down and see me on the cape over the fourth and ideally huyett too, as i didn't get to see her last wk when she was in nyc due to jet lag issues. apparently she saw robin though, who is off to portland this thurs to watch the boy compete in triathalon challenges. exciting!

it's hotter than blazes in nyc - does not bode well for the rest of hte summer. at least i don't have to move this year - thank heavens for small favors right?

send a tooth fairy to fix my teeth and rice sock for my bed (my coworker: so you want me to sleep with a rice sock?)

phew!

hey kids -

got some good news today! tests are passed, backgrounds are checked, and i'm good to go with the new job! HUGE relief. i feel like i just got accepted to college again.

i'm starting feb 5 - which means tomorrow is my last day at my job. started cleaning up my desk and stuff today - really weird to think i won't be going in next monday. as long as i've lived in new york i've gotten up and gone to work at my office. and now i'm joining a huge company and working with smart people who must have seen something useful in me at some point, b/c they seem to think i can add something to the company. only time will tell i suppose.

so - i think is pretty much the end of the gchatting - at least at work. you can still catch me here of course - but i will miss having you guys at my fingertips. it's a lot easier to stay in touch when there's a joke here, and an update there. but we'll see.

going to florida on sat am to see my grandparents and take a break that i don't feel guilty about. plenty of time for pondering, so i'm sure i'll be updating.

in other news:

very satisfying things = sinking a full = filling in the crossword puzzle = jamming it home from down town in foosball = sinking a jump shot = very satisfying things

and speaking of crosswords - laurak let me know that she opened her orgo book last night and found a crossword from soph summer. a good 4 years ago this summer. don't the years go by in a blink.

send sunshine and graceful exits

attn: kmart shoppers

today's post title is no reflection on the style and taste of any of my readers, rather something i like to say, or more accurately, something my dad likes to say that i have picked up.

today's picture is courtesy of my brother, who has been SO bored at home on the cape over vaycay that he has built and painted a beruit table. he asks all d readers to forgive him for the fact it is not a pong table, but such is the extent of his boredom.

tidbits of interest before i launch into the puerto rico update: ppocket has some exciting news that she has yet to announce. will leave it up to her to do so, but you could certainly prod her a little bit to spill. skips's bday was on sunday, a happy happy birthday to her, and many more. swanny also had some good news in the med-school dept. - congrats to her! i wrote an article for the class of '05 alumni newsletter - megh gave me the v. exciting topic of 'fundraising' - so keep an eye out for that at the end of jan. speaking of megh, he returned yesterday from a jaunt to france which i'm sure was bon bon bon, though i have yet to hear the details. mulley is back from london - she had a brief stopover in nyc before being whisked away to boston. she is in good spirits, seems elated at how well things have worked out, and will be back in the big apple again for new years, hopefully with boxa in tow. karla is definately moving to san fran, no word yet on whether she'll be living with maynard, but maybe joanna who just got some exciting job news from out that way if you know what i mean.

on that note - we commence puerto rico trip details. will do these in a jimmy buffett format, as i had lyrics running through my head the whole time, and the island really is a jb song:

'well now that's just the start of a well-deserve overdue binge" (the weather is here) + 'ran into a chum with a bottle of rum and we wound up drinking all night' (changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes - the first lyric doesn't have any particular relevance - but the song is about a guy blowing off manhattan to go down to the tropics and then falling in love with 'life in the palm trees' and never coming back. and the 'if it doesn't work out, they'll never be any doubt, that the pleasure was worth all the pain' part does apply to our sunburns and even if the intent was to reflect on the last year, it was hard to do with the bacardi rum factory around the corner.

'up on the beach there are two empty chairs who say more than the people whoever sit there' (lone palm) + 'the water so green and the air was so clean he just stuck right to his task' (havana day dreamin) the beaches on this island were freaking amazing. vieques used to be a us naval base - the navy vacated three years ago - and so you can drive for 15 minutes along gravel and dirt road and end up a GORGEOUS deserted white sand beach. christine and i spent all day in the sun, and swimming, while our two beach chairs sat waiting for us.

'she came down from cinncinati' (fins) + 'some of them are running from lovers, leaving no forward address, some of them are running tons of ganja, some are running from the IRS' (banana republics) + all of coconut telegraph all the people we met down there had come down once (many from new england!) and never left. or left and then came back. and everyone had a story, but you didn't dare ask too many questions about who they were and why they were there b/c you weren't sure you wanted to know the answer. someone told us it was the kind of place where if they told you they were taking you out on a boat tomorrow you knew you were in trouble. and everyone knew everyone else and their business. last night's sketchy man circling for the kill was tomorrow morning's breakfast cook. news travels fast on an island that's 20 miles long by 7 miles wide . . .

'like stars on the water' (stars on the water) - vieques has one of only 4 bioluminescent bays in the world, and we went on a nightime tour one night. it was already pretty incredible to be out in a kayak under the stars (there's no light pollution in vieques b/c it's far enough off the coast to avoid it) and then you'd get in the water and you'd glow as you moved. it was like liquid gold. doing the later dance in it was v. fun. and then you could drip water down your legs and arms and they would sparkle in the darkness. really seriously cool.

'we had only come for chicken we were not a ganja plane' (jamaica mistaka) - this island had all trappings of running grass, etc. etc. so this line kept running through my head. we asked about it one night and were told that rastafa eddie was the person to see - apparently he keeps stuff in his dreadlocks. we didn't stick around to find out if that was true.

'we do it for the stories we can tell' (stories we can tell) - bottom line, we def have to go back. it was a rough place, lots of abject poverty, chickens, HORSES in the road (did you come by car or horse is a legit question) but also music everywhere, beautiful beaches, and sunshine. i'm in love. besides, 'they were freezing up in buffalo, stuck in their cars, and we were lying there beneath the sun and the stars'. what's not to like? and the type of place where everyone has a story, and you add to it every day. amazing.

send money for a beach house and an ideas on what to give my dad for xmas