that's amore

wanted to post a few more pics from my trip to the Amalfi Coast with my coworkers a few weeks ago. we did a team bonding trip with about 15 of my coworkers after our work offsite in paris in early june and stayed in this incredible hotel-like place up in the hills about 15 mins from Sorrento called Masa Lubrense. The house overlooked the Mediterranean and Capri and each day we woke up to views of blue water and each night the sunset over the Bay of Naples. 

We took a drive down the Amalfi Coast to Positano to go the beach one day. Nothing says work bonding like ripping around the curves of the coast with a sheer drop off on one side while crammed in the back of a Volvo. The next day we chartered boats to take us around Capri. We were laughing bc the leadership team was on one boat and the rest of us were on the kids boat which was obviously having a better time than the adults boat. We had half a handle of Bacardi and a half-liter of Coke and boating a long taking hits of the bottles in the sun was definitely a life highlight. 

Pics def speak louder than words in this instance but it was such an amazing trip - sun, sand and blue blue water. Once in a lifetime. Incredibly lucky to have been able to take advantage of the opportunity. It was like why not go?

walking down to the beach in positano

the beach in positano

boating around capri

the terrace overlooking the sea and capri

poolside

everything was green and lush - olives and lemon trees galore

clouds over capri

sunset over the bay of naples

room with a view

looks like a painting

this just captures the amalfi coast so well

boat jumping

303 and an overdue update

well hello! apologies, as usual, for the radio silence. this blog has been on the brain and though the spirit has been willing the words have not.

blogging today from downtown denver - came out here on thurs night for work meetings. it's such a funny city! one thing that always strikes me about the west coast is how much 'younger' the cities are compared to the east coast. not in the demographic sense but the historical sense. 1858 vs 1650? it's a tangible difference.

heading back to nyc later this morning - another week in the city before i go home to the cape for xmas. going to stay there for another couple days after the holiday - my dad is having day patient surgery and won't be able to get out of bed for awhile. there are dogs and ducks and chickens to take care of and wood to bring in so i figured i'd help my mom out.

here's the recap from the last 6 weeks:

florida - last week i was in florida for a mini break and to see my grandparents. it was wonderful to have a few quiet days to myself - i walked the beach in the morning and watched the sunset at night over the gulf of mexico. my grandparents seem to be doing very well too which i was really glad to see. i really cherish every moment i get to spend with them as we all get older. trying to recognize what we have while we have it.

dominican republic - spent a weekend in the dominican republic in late october for a friend from the cape's wedding. it was a long way to go for a quick trip and the hassles of the resort were ridic (lost reseverations and ridiculous policies) but the beach and the wedding were beautiful. after the reception everyone took our beer and rum into the ocean for some frolocking. laughing and splashing while tipsy with 40 other people under the stars was a definite highlight.

hurricane sandy - and then of course there was hurricane sandy - a storm no one thought would be as ridiculous as it was. at my parent's request i left brooklyn on sunday night before the subway shut down to go out to stamford and stay with my brother. we lost power there but the bar around the corner let us charge our phones and could cook up some food so we muddled through (incidentally the owner's family used to own the coolidge in white river junction. small world.) went straight from stamford to hanover for alumni council weekend (more on that below) so i didn't get back to brooklyn heights until late sunday night. it didn't appear that anything had happened to my area of brooklyn - in fact my microwave clock was still correct. we're up high enough (heights?) and the power lines are still underground that it didn't seem to be an issue but we were in a unique vantage point for the devastation in manhattan. i still can't take my preferred train to work, as the R train tunnel was flooded the worst,  but at least i can get there right? work - however - was another story. my office is on 21st and 5th in the flatiron district and not only did we not have power for a week but also our servers that were down in the financial district were completely knocked out when the financial district flooded so we couldn't serve ads. our tech team worked 24/7 for six days straight to move our servers to the cloud. to put this in perspective for the non-techies that's about two months worth of work. we're back up and running now - although we did have to manually move our servers from the 31st floor of the building which required a shopping trip to home depot for electric screw drivers, rope and headlamps - but crazy! poor kevin picked the worst week to come to nyc - he ended up stranded in manhattan without power for three days. i guess i can't blame him if he never comes back (but please do!)

alumni council - had my first alumni council meeting in hanover in early november - alum council is comprised of one rep from every class, club/region and affinity group and i'm the NYC rep. we meet twice a year in hanover to hear from the college and report back to our constituents. it was a busy two days of meetings but i did get some pong in and it was really exciting to be part of the alumni leadership board. i feel like i want to educate every d alum i know about AC as i knew nothing about it going in and it's an important part of how alums interact with the college. more to come from me i'm sure. in other dartmouth related news i saw megh at the holiday party in early december and he asked for more blog posts - so sorry for the delay megh!

otherwise - i'm still LOVE LOVE loving living in brooklyn heights - my apartment has really come together to the point where i'm not obsessing over what i still need to buy all the time. the neighborhood is so awesome and i love coming home to it. i'm getting to know all the shops and the stores and even some of the faces are starting to look familiar. it's amazing what a difference having a place that feels like home in nyc makes. i actually want to be there more. and it's so so so so quiet. to the point where the last time i heard sirens it was b/c someone was jumping off the brooklyn bridge. yeah.

another year winding to a close - it's been a good one. still, as ever, amazed by how far i've come since last year at this time. the fact that i'm even in denver right now is a testament to that. always liked the quote 'there are the years that ask questions and the years that answer'. this year answered. and i can't wait for what comes next.

a tale of two coasts

weekend update - was in nyc this wknd for the first time in a long time. the weekends are longer when you aren't coming and going all the time but i still would have rather been somewhere else. fortunately the next three weeks are crazy - so i'll get my wish!

had a great time hanging out in LA with kevin last wknd - went to a local dive bar by the venice pier and had some late night beach hanging out time after i had dinner with a cape friend. kevin initially told me an address to meet him at after my dinner which i assumed was his apt but quickly realized it wasn't when i got to the house and found it dark and some person looking at me like i was crazy when i rang the bell and said i was looking for kevin and standing on the sidewalk with all my worldy possessions in a suitcase. fortunately we sorted it out - kevin had been at a party at the house but they had left to go to the bar but the text hadn't gone through so i didn't get the update. we all had a good laugh and i went to meet them at the bar. i essentially always end up staying up to 5 AM or so EST when i'm out there - the time change causes the most trouble at night in my opinion - and while i'm def good for an all-nighter now and again two nights in a row often does me in.

saturday we went swimming in a friend's backyard pool and then for a bike ride up the coast from the venice pier to the santa monica pier. it's been unbearably hot and muggy in nyc for the last couple weeks but it was gorgeous on the west coast - felt almost like september out here - warm sunny days and cool nights. it was a blessing to have a bit of a break from the humidity. we went for a swim in the pacific and as i was floating along in the beautiful briney sea it was like this is really my life?

saturday night i met a guy at a dartmouth party - turns out he went to high school with my cousin in maryland and now is in LA doing an urban planning degree at USC. i definitely have a type and it's engineers and track guys (he pole vaulted in hs). we had a great time hanging out (he made me breakfast to frank sinatra on sunday morning. i chopped the tomatoes and olives.) and seems like we may stay in touch. if there's one thing i'm good at it's parlaying one night stands into relationships. we'll see but it's made me really happy all week. :)

this past weekend we went to see mulley's play on friday night - several of the nyc usual suspects came out including megh and pollypocket - was fun to see them. sat night was the dartmouth club of nyc event at the mets - we went to hear the GM of the mets (a d '69) speak and then to the baseball game. things went well and it was really gratifying to see folks from different classes interacting and getting to know each other. glad to have it behind me so i can get on with weddings, fun and friends! heading up to providence, ri on friday with katie and karla to meet up with swanny, maynard, whit, skips and laurak for robin's wedding. hooray for usual suspects, weddings and weekends in new england.

lastly it's just about my 7 year anniversary of living in nyc. how did it get so late so soon? i'm moving in 3 weeks and i cannot wait. i'm sick of my roommate, my roommate's cat and my apartment being too hot all the time. ready for what's next.

welcome to brooklyn

hello from LA - i'm out here for a few days for work (my boss likes to take me on eating tours when we travel - so far we've been to randy's donuts, in-n-out and then drinks at the W hotel with a client) and am staying the weekend to hang out with kevin. still kind of can't believe i'm in LA - i've been all over the place lately - but i'm rolling with it.

so sorry to leave you hanging with that last post - took some time for things to sink in. basically what happened is i promised myself when i took my new job that if i was going to stay in nyc for a couple more years i was going to invest in finding an apt/making an apt that felt like a home. i was keeping an eye on craigslist for sept/oct apt options. i'd been to brooklyn heights to visit rowena and will and liked it and it was on my list of places to explore during my apt hunt. saw a posting for two apts in brownstones in brooklyn heights and emailed about checking them out. i get back to my desk the next day after a meeting and there's an email asking if i can come check them out at 5:30 (aka in 30 minutes). i debated for a second but seven years in nyc (yes seven!) and more moves than i care to remember paid off and i ran into my boss's office, stammered that i had a chance to go look at an apt and she told me to go so i ran out of the office and jumped on the train to brooklyn.

loved loved love the neighborhood - like all the things i like about the upper west side even more so - and got to see two apts and decided to go for the apartment i liked best. i had my letter of employment in hand and i got the cash deposit out then and there (it wasn't amateur hour) and went over to fill out an application form that night. met the management company and loved them (their office was in a vintage motorcycle showroom) and by monday i was signed, sealed, delivered and moving to brooklyn heights. easiest apt leasing process i've had yet.

was planning to pay double rent for september, since my uws lease isn't up until october, but i mentioned this to my roommate and he found someone for sept 1. so just like that i'm moving in 30 days. and i can't wait.

it's going to be a change from living in manhattan but i love the area and i'm excited for something new after all this time in nyc. it's a large studio in a third-floor walk-up in a brownstone right near henry and clark streets. just about every major subway line is there. i'm going to have to get creative on storage and furniture purchasing - it basically has no kitchen - but i have lots of ideas and it's going to be fun to get everything organized and make the place feel like a home. i really can't wait. people keep asking me if i'm going to become a hipster - rowena's response to that was 'tell them you're moving to the yuppie area, not the hipster area'. besides, can you see me as a hipster? :)

in other news, had two great sigma delt weekends - one for ceppos's bachelorette party in nyc and the other for our big sis/little sis reunion weekend on the cape. had a great time boozing and having some laughs with each other for ceppity's bachelorette - really wonderful to reune with cody, brogiin and diana and meet some of ceppos' friends from bschool. had a blast getting all dolled up in 80s gear for rubix kube and calling ceppos out all weekend so everyone knew she was getting married. the wedding is in a few weeks out in greenwich, ct - going to be a blast.

last wknd celeste and little kristen and i drove up to the cape to meet diede. unfortunately the weather didn't really cooperate, but we did a lot of shopping, walked on the beach, got ourselves some lobster, and had girl time. our class years go '05, '07, '09 and '11 (and we're co-opting jill for a '13) so it really is kind of unusual that even though we weren't on campus with diede and little kristen we're still friends, but it was so nice to speak a common sd language, share our experiences and celebrate us.  celeste goes off to three years in chicago for her jd/mba at northwestern and little kristen is starting med school in nj but we're going to try to keep doing big sis/little sis reunions. it's pretty special. :)

i'm bummed i'm not going to make it back to the cape anymore this summer but excited for weddings and the move and the next chapter of my life. keep thinking about the storypeople 'feels like some kind of ride but it's just turning out to be life going absolutely perfectly.' :)

why hello

i know i know - i am such a deliniquent. if it weren't for megh guilt tripping me into posting about his fabulous dinner party on sunday i probably still would be MIA, but in the words of america 'i've been one poor correspondent, i've been too too hard to find but it doesn't mean you ain't been on my mind'

in chronological order:

• '07 reunion - quite simply, it was a blast. highlight was the impromptu dance party that went down in the sd basement on saturday night. we took down the first pong table and turned off the lights and kevin and i were running up and down the stairs dj'ing ('we found love' and 'call me maybe' were the heavy favorites). we also stashed a justin case of keystone in the dryer - also pretty awesome. walked down to the river with laurak to go skinny dipping, played a two table game of social at 4 am and then strip pong (we were winning by so much that eventually we just got naked). capped off the night with a trip to lou's at 7 am. we were all drunk and falling asleep in our maple syrup but it was epic. got in a quick nap between 8:30 and 10:30 am and then caught a ride home with cody. it was so great to be hanging out on campus with 'the pledges' again and campus looked so much warmer and greener then it had even a few weeks earlier. so so so much fun. i'm going to continue crashing reunions in the future. 

• jimmy buffett '12x - also a blast. christine had borrowed a tent for the occassion, which was incredibly clutch considering it was super hot out. i took a ton of pictures on my phone and managed not to lose it (a jb miracle) and vik got most valuable partier for reasons i will not detail here in case vin reads the blog. great group of people, amazing set list and concert number 12 under my belt. christine and went down to the cape for a few hours on sunday to go out on her boat - we were bummed we had to go back to real life on sunday night but it was such a lovely trip and very necessary for our sanity.

• vacation! - my 10 or so days on the cape were incredible - we def hit the vacation weather jackpot as each day was sunny and hot. i went to the beach just about every day. christine and i did the lobster special at the raw bar and oyster harbor fireworks on her boat ('my neck is cramping from looking up at the fireworks #capecodproblems') and my siblings were home so i got to catch up with them. i did a ton of manual labor for my parents - cleaning and tidying the house and yard for the company - i took the philosophical approach that i pay a lot of money for that kind of exercise in nyc. rowena came up on thursday and we beached and boozed for a few days and sang 'intergalactic' to much applause during saturday night karaoke at the foxhole. laurak is currently in woods hole, so she came down to hang out for saturday night as well and we ended up in osterville after hours at my brother's friend's house boozing and having a few laughs. great way to end a fabulous break from the big city.

lots of friend time lately - as i mentioned megh is now back in nyc and had mulley, kjbb + the boy and me over to his new apartment for a dinner party on sunday night. he made some delicious appetizers and roasted a chicken with lemon - we were all impressed and enjoyed his new digs. glad he's back in the city!

next up is ceppos' bachelorette party in nyc this weekend. i'm getting excited to hang out and be silly with some girlfriends - we're going to see the 80s cover band rubix kube on sat night. i will def post my comments, learnings and suggestions after the weekend is over so that others can learn from my experiences as well.

i also rented '21 jump street' over the weekend and loved it. it was hilarious, quotable and had a great soundtrack. highly highly recommend. one of my favorite quotes was 'what are you wearing?' 'potassium nitrate - thanks for noticing' ;-P

that's the news! stay (cool) and classy friends! :)

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

The Sox lost and it was freezing cold but we had a blast. :)

recap

well friends - lots going on. it's supposed to monsoon in nyc today and i am so happy to have a day where i can stay inside and be cozy. it's kind of pathetic how excited i am about it. i am sort of craving ihop - a bright cheery diner-type place with bottomless coffee and blueberry syrup is good on a rainy sunday - but sadly the closest one is on union sq and i have no one to go with. :(

i played in a company softball game on friday night in central park and i am sad to say that i have been ridiculously sore as a result for the last two days. i go to the gym, i exercise and stuff and still muscles i didn't even know i had are incredibly painful to move. i should also note that i was playing catcher and took a softball to an unfortunate area of my lower body mid-game. it's okay, i don't need to have kids.

went to nyc's resident boston bar 'professor thom's' on saturday with julia to watch the red sox game (aka blow a 9-0 lead and lose to the yankees) and won first row tickets to a sox game at fenway in a couple weeks in a raffle. the game is at 7:30 on a tuesday night, so we'll be taking a half day to get up to boston for the game. guess i was in the right place at the right time. we also got professor thom's t-shirts which i may be even more excited about than the tickets. but #winning.

i do want to say a bit about my london trip that was a few weeks ago at this point. as you could tell from the pictures a few posts ago, we had a fabulous time. really good mix of tourist and relaxation. some of the key highlights:

• had a mad-hatter themed easter tea at the savoy hotel. the little bottle labeled 'drink me' was delicious
• rode the london eye at dusk so big ben and parliament were all lit up
• checked out the war rooms - the top secret rooms the ministry of defense used as headquarters during world war 2. the map room walls were literally covered in maps with thousands of pin points indicating the positions of convoys all over the world. i'm fascinated by world war 2 and it was so neat to be in the underground rooms where the major decisions that determined the outcome of the war happened (in other news read 'the eye of the needle' by ken follett for a fantastic ww2-era spy novel)
• had two cadbury creme egg flurries at mcdonalds. omg they were so delicious
• walked a bunch - over the tower bridge, through the food markets, over to buckingham palace, portobello road, and through harrod's (though there were no puppies in sight. boo)
• had brunch at vin's coworker's apartment. he was from spain and had imported all this spanish food back to london so it ended up being a brunch of delicious spanish delicacies 
• climbed to the top of st. paul's cathedral. had 'tuppence a bag' from 'mary poppin's stuck in my head'
• cocktails at the 'experimental cocktail club' - a speakeasyesque cocktail joint in chinatown
• rode a double-decker bus

all in all, a total blast. vin was a fantastic hostess and london (and the world really) are just so so cool.  got me thinking about where i want to go next! i'm off to los angeles next weekend to see kevin and hopefully a good friend from high school as well.

London Calling

Out and about with Vin!

I'm in Miami

View from the Mandarin Oriental beach

terrible ideas

if you're trying to avoid someone so you don't get drunk and make bad decisions i'm pretty sure the responsible thing to do is not to go to a house party in rural vermont where the goal is to drink your face off with said person.

then again, if i had wanted to be responsible i would have invited my parents and my pants to this party, and neither will be in attendance. besides - 'terrible ideas - don't you just love those?' ;-P

hit the road lyon

a bit of a low-key (lame) friday night here in nyc, as i have a 6:30 am flight tomorrow morning out of newark, nj and have to get up at 4 am to get there on time. a little apprehensive that i'll wake up, and about the fact that in order to avoid paying an $80 cab fare i have to go meet a shuttle in the dregs of midtown around 5 am. hoping for the best but will feel much better once i am on that plane.

heading down to naples, fl to visit my grandparents for an extended long weekend trip. last year's visit wasn't really much of a break, thanks to my grandmother's health issue, a hefty dose of family emotional issues and a 5 PM cocktail hour, but this year my grandmother is doing much better, so i've got that going for me at least.

a little weird to have more time off after having effectively not worked a full week in the last month, but i'm not complaining. take it when you can get it is what i say.

in other travel news i am ECSTATIC (surprise party sue style) to report that i have purchased tickets to go visit vin in london in april. haven't been to london since my freshman year of high school (aka 15 years ago) when we went on a family trip. so psyched to rediscover it and spend some apartment 7 style time with vin. more to come on this i'm sure.

wish me luck on the waking up/not getting mugged part of the trip. i'm off to bed.

footloose and fancy free

last week was super stressful b/c i was taking off early on friday to go to seattle for zana's wedding, and i had a dentist appt to have 3 cavities filled, which meant 2.5 hours out of my thursday to have needles and drills and lockjaw. now that both things are behind me i feel a strange sense of euphoria, which can only be because my calendar is (relatively) wide open and i'm staying in nyc for the next two wknds.

that is not to say i didn't have a fantastic time on the west coast this past weekend. it was my first trip to seattle, so i didn't know much about it, and i was excited to get the grand tour. jess was kind enough to act as my hostess and tour guide, so i learned quite a bit about the pacific northwest.

got in around 7 on friday night and was so surprised to see snow-capped mountains on the air train into the city. according to wikipedia seattle gets 71 sunny days on average a year, and friday was one of them, so it's only fair to note i'm biased.

met up with jess and ppocket and headed to dinner with swanny, skips and skip's girlfriend. was fantastic to catch up with them, eat delicious thai food and see an almost full moon over the space needle.

saturday we picked up a zipcar from the local community center (a vintage porsche car fair was going on. we were driving a vw rabbit) and got all gussied up for the night. picked up skips and ppocket and we headed out to the red hook brewing company for lunch and the brewery tour. for $1 we got 5 samples of beer, a rocks glass and learned that one of the co-founders of red hook is the founder of starbucks, there's a red hook brewery in portsmouth, nh, and 30 people work at the brewery. highly recommend it if you're on the east or west coasts.

we cut out of the tour early to get to zana's parents' ranch where the wedding was being held. they live on a gorgeous piece of property north of seattle and zana and linda were married down by the pond in an incredibly beautiful and heart-felt ceremony. afterwards we ran around looking for horses, giving hugs to zana and rosi, and getting drinks in the dressage arena where the reception was held. jess and i gave toasts, zana, linda and the boys did a choreographed dance to get things kicked-off, and we had brick-oven pizza for dinner. we also took a number of pictures that ppocket is converting into a collage at the photo booth, and danced the night away.

sunday jess and i had brunch downtown, and then i explored the waterfront of docks and ferries and pike place market (think real world seattle fish and original starbucks) before heading back to the airport for my red-eye. seattle is the western-most terminus of i-90 (of boston and james taylor fame) and it was so funny to think about being on the other side of the country but on the same road. really liked seattle overall - it's such a cool combo of water and woods and mountains. everywhere you looked there were boats and beautiful scenery and people outside running or playing soccer or sailing. there were also lots of gardens, farmers markets and community centers. was surprised to see tons of red sox fans out and about, but realized it was likely because they were playing the mariners. still, it kind of felt like home. all in all it seems like a very legit place to live and that there is a lot more to explore. will have to get back out there soon.

liking a song lately by emmylou harris (covered by miranda lambert) called 'easy from now on'. the lyrics i like are

It's gonna be easy to fill
The heart of a thirsty woman
Harder to kill the ghost of a no good man
And I'll be ridin' high in a fandangled sky
It's gonna be easy, It's gonna be easy
It's gonna be easy from now on

part of why i like it is that it resonates, part of it is the 'fandangled sky' bit, but worth a listen if you're into bluegrass country.

in the vein of culture and arts, i also read 'the big house' last weekend - a great memoir about summer houses, family and boston W.A.S.P.S. i've touched on the role my grandparents house in craigville has played in my family and i'm sure i'll get around to doing a post on it one of these days, but worth a read. started reading 'last call' about prohibition on sunday night as well. in the middle of that now but enjoying learning about something i don't know too much about. will report back.

thoughts on a hybrid

one of the good things about zipcar is it let's you test drive different types of cars. usually when i'm renting i try to rent the same car (lately a toyota matrix) so at least i've had experience driving it, even it was very brief.

this past weekend i went to the cape for a quick trip. my brother's home for a week so i visited with him and the grandparentals. i rented a honda hybrid from new haven b/c it was all they had available for the weekend by the time i booked. although i really really want my own car, i realize it is impractical and a waste of money as long as i'm living in nyc. however, when it comes time to buy a car i will not be buying a hybrid b/c of its design:

1. there's a bar across the back windshield that divides the windshield in half. the back windshield is more like a piece of horizontal rectangle and then an angled piece that reminds me of a greenhouse. the bar is inconveniently set across the middle right where your line of sight is when you're driving. now maybe this isn't a problem when you're driving around town, but when i'm driving on the highway i use the rear view almost as much as i look out the front. that bar is in a bad place.

2. the hybrid shuts off the engine when you come to a stop or slow down below 10 mph. this means there's lots of herking and jerking when you start and stop frequently. again - might not be a problem on the highway, but driving around town is kind of rough.

3. no cruise control. i drive a lot of long distances and that is a must.

4. no arm rest in the center console. a personal preference here i guess.

so great mileage be damned. i'm going to stick with my toyota matrix whenever possible.

had a great but short weekend on the cape. was not beach weather at all - got a couple hours in on saturday but it was overcast and windy - and it poured on sunday morning, but played some pong at one of my brother's friend's house (a '12). their summer house is being renovated and they convinced the contractor to build them saw horses and leave a piece of plywood so they could play pong on it. one of the annoying things about the cape is someone always has to drive when you go out, so couldn't get after it like i wanted, but it was fun to play. also managed to play some foose at the fox hole.

christine and i went to the raw bar on sat night for the twin lobster special. the lobster was $15 and the shells were so soft you didn't need to use the crackers at all. we stopped by to see my grandparents, as the raw bar is down the street from where they're staying this summer, and had some ice cream and a nice chat. i did breakfast with them on sunday morning at IHOP - we used to go a lot when we were little. love that blueberry syrup. enjoyed being home but it is such a long trip it's hard to do for the weekend. hoping to get back for labor day for an extended long weekend - we'll see.

going to be a long and crazy week in nyc - wish it were over already. lots of work and i have a dentist appt on thursday to fill 3 cavities (ugh!). friday i go to seattle for zana's wedding. looking forward to seeing the crew girls but it's going to be a quick trip and the red eye back on sunday night will not be fun. have enjoyed all the travel but ready for a couple weeks in the city. must get ready for work.

there's no place like home

hi friends. apologies for the extended silence. i've been home on the cape since last friday - relishing my vacation. needed a break from nyc, from the world, from life, and that includes the blog. those of you that read this blog know that sometimes life can be so daily, so it's been wonderful to have some downtime.

it's a gray, foggy, rainy day on the cape today and i'm home babysitting the dogs while my parents are out. speaking of dogs, when your parents have three and their lives revolve around them, you get to know them pretty well. for instance, sasha, the only female dog, loves riding in the car. my parents call her 'bear' and she rides around with them all the time. she also likes to do what i'm calling the 'sasha wake up call' - aka run up the third floor and leap on the bed at 6:30 in the morning.

kaiser - the puppy - is as adorable as ever. my parents call him 'kaiser cashew' because he puts his ears down and starts curling up like a little cashew when you go to pet him. he likes ice cubes, and dunks his entire face in his water bowl like he's bobbing for apples. he has a little clydesdale trot when he runs up to you or chases a ball in the back field. i keep singing 'trot trot to boston, trot trot to lynn' :). he's so little and cute but make no mistake, he is going to be one big dog.

i've had a pretty active vacation - rowena and i drove up to the cape last friday via long island - we met her parents at the train in her home town and drove to the tip of the north fork of long island to catch a car ferry that took us across long island sound to new london. we had kind of a funny experience in that we noticed a white pick up truck with a new hampshire license plate 'PWR HSE' on 84 in connecticut while driving to jimmy buffett a few weeks ago. last friday on the long island expressway we were amazed to see the truck again. and then even more amazed when we ended up parked next to the very same truck on the ferry. turned out we were right - it was the same truck we saw en route to jb. what are the odds?

we did boating with christine last saturday, and were out on her boat for the oyster harbor fireworks. we were literally right below them - never had to crane my neck to see fireworks before. we were so close to the barge that i was mentally reviewing my emergency plan in case the barge exploded. the plan involved flinging myself in the water on the opposite side of the boat ala james bond in 'tomorrow never dies'.

sunday rowena and i headed down cape to brewster to rent bikes and ride the cape cod rail trail, which i'd never done in all my time on the cape. we hopped on our bikes and biked down to chatham, where we took the scenic route around chatham, down to the chatham bars and chatham light and then had a delicious seafood lunch on main street.

rowena headed back to nyc on monday after lunch at the raw bar and i've spent the last couple days at the beach, taking care of business and reading. as usual, it's so hard to believe that i have an apt and a life back in nyc when i'm here. there's plenty going on when i get back - but i still get a few more days before i have to deal with it i'm glad to say.

if you want an experience, go to a jb concert

last friday rowena and i drove up to boston. as it was a summer friday, it took us a damn long time, but we had a lovely trip traipsing around connecticut, eating taco bell, and stopping at amazing party stores for swag.

we also heard just about every song on the top 40 on our road trip, so the current faves are:

• 'last friday night' - katy perry. this is the first song of her's that i really really really like
• 'right there' - nicole scheringzer ft 50 cent. super hot song that inspired me to listen to old 'fitty cent' as he's a really good rapper. remember 'just a lil bit', 'candy shop' and 'in da club'?
• 'more' - usher. is usher capable of making a bad song?
• 'stereo hearts' - gym class heros ft adam levine - catchy song that i mainly like b/c it uses music metaphors to describe relationships.
• 'find your love' - drake. i like the 'hey hey hey' part best

top 40 songs we heard a million times but did not love include 'et' and 'blow', mostly b/c we heard them a million times.

buffett concert number 11 was, per usual, fantastic. despite the initial gloomy forecast, the day dawned sunny and almost a little too hot. perfect for day fratting in a bathing suit. highlights:

• we had 7 folks in for the concert this year, so we decided to rent a mini van so we could all fit. this ended up being a fully loaded, snazzy red chrysler town and country. we were all in awe of the automatic doors, the bucket seats and the creative booze holders, but it fit everything we needed and proved to be a great fort for the day

• alex passed out on the grass during the concert. i myself only blacked in towards the end but apparently lots of pictures were taken with him
  

• kelly accused me of eating all the shrimp before the concert but i had just eaten most of them. i ate the rest when we were hanging out during the post concert tailgate

• swimming in the back of the pick up truck. the boy claimed i had just taken a bath in the back of a pick up truck, but i went under water so i think that counts
  

• making friends with the group of guys from hingham who were hot but not smart as they had not brought sun tan lotion and i was tasked with the enviable job of lotioning them all up. this paved the way, as did the pirate tattoos we brought, for caroline and rowena to 'make friends' with two roommates. double dates are in their future.

• once again we were miraculously parked next to the 'topless tikibar' and the 'shipwreck tavern', who had a dj, dj speakers, a great dance party and a weighted wheel of boob-flashing options. they were also giving away delicious reese pieces mudslides with a hint of banana for anyone that flashed - best mudslide i had ever had - totally worth flashing for
  

• i lost my black jersey skirt while swimming in the pick up truck and miraculously found it again

• christine asked nicely for this shark helium balloon after the concert that kept floating all over the van during the ride home. money quote from yours truly: get that flamboyantly-colored tuna fish away from me
  

• the concert, the parts i remember at least, was great, especially since the bruins had just won the stanley cup. there were gratuitous bruins videos, images and references during the entire show, including all new lyrics to 'boat drinks' to commemorate the occasion. you can check that out here.

• the moon was this crazy red color as it rose over the concert that made everything feel even more magical
  

added 3 new converts to team jb and i'm so sad it's over but can't wait til next year! :)

Panorama of the Green on Green Key

can anyone direct me to the basement?

so distracted at work today b/c i keep reliving the memories (many hazy) of green key 2011. only way to get over it is to blog it so without further ado i present the tweets of green key:

• lobster dinner for $13 - #winning! - drove up with stein on friday after work. we stopped at stu leonards near westport, ct for dinner. turned out they had lobster for $13 so we indulged before ripping up to hanover.
• 'when i get to vermont i am so speeding again' - we literally ripped up to hanover. we were going 81 mph or so when we got pulled over on 91, just shy of the vermont border. somehow stein got off with a warning. we'll chalk it up to the magic of green key.
  
• 'harbor is a morning game' - true story. continued the tradition by playing at 11 on saturday though it was remarkably difficult to round up 8 ragey people who wanted in. booted up the blue boones (terrible) we were drinking half way through and my mouth tasted like coconut for the rest of the game
  
• 'if i wanted to be responsible i would have invited my parents and my pants to green key' - neither were in attendance so you can guess how much responsibility there was
  
• 'can anyone tell me where the basement is' - jill and i shouted this a lot and i kind of think it would be an awesome tshirt b/c basements are such a thing at dartmouth. also think 'got basement?' would be good too
• 'this is all i have to wear because my pants are muddy and jason ripped the sleeves off my shirt' - sums up the weekend pretty well
• 'it's my 25 millionth time at the rodeo' - different take on an old quote. but it really was.
  

got to campus and sd on friday and found alex, who was in pretty rough shape from beacoup drinking, but i managed to peer pressure him into playing lots of games of pong until my sister showed up and we blew up the inflatable shark that she found in celeste's box in the sigma delt storage room. eventually wandered back over to xh but it was pretty late and there was no beer so we went back to jill's room in mid fayer.

it was a gorgeous gorgeous night and i kept wanting to take my clothes off and run around but no one wanted to do it (or jump in the river) with me (apparently it's the coldest it's been in 67 years and no one cared about our lochness expertise). kevin came up to jill's room around 4 am and we sat on the fire escape and ate girl scout cookies before deciding it was too nice to be inside and that we wanted to be out on the green. we noticed the lights were still on in the d so we went up to the d office and hung out as the sky got lighter. the balcony of robo wasn't a terrible place to watch the sun rise on green key.

was kind of okay with the idea that the world might be ending at dartmouth on saturday. it just seemed fitting. as did dancing to 'til the world ends' while playing pong on saturday afternoon.

spent saturday night playing pong outside at the backyard of 45/47 leb aka the track house. the smell of the lilacs from the lilac hedge really did a lot to offset the smell of stale beer. alex was in pretty rough shape after drinking all day and fell asleep in his car on top of his resume. that was a new one.

i acquired several pirate tattoos, including a treasure chest on my upper right hip. places i will never be getting a tattoo: my upper right hip.

i also spent more time with my brother's friends than with my brother, primarily due to the fact that his friend sliced his hand open pretty bad while trying to scale the fence to the track to run drunk 400s. they had to take him to the hospital where he got 10 stitches before they returned to campus, went straight to stinsons and then to the heorot toga party.

finally dartmouth has a lot of lingo - both words specific to campus and trends in language. the big one over the weekend was 'literally'. it was used both liberally and erroneously many times to describe everything from how hungry people were to how to how hard they raged. so of course now it's a thing for me too. i'm literally saying it all the time. ;-P

green m+ms

well kiddos - quick rundown on the state of the union:

have weddings on the brain b/c diana's bachelorette was last weekend in newport beach, ca, and i just received swanny's gorgeous invite in the mail. unfortunately swanny and diana are both brilliant and think alike and have scheduled the big day on the same day, so i can't join in swanny's festivities but i will be thinking of her and looking forward to celebrating at zana's wedding in august.

the weekend for diana was fantastic. we were at a house on newport bay that was just right for large gatherings of boozy and giggly girls. (view from the back steps to the left). i had the theme song for the 'oc' stuck in my head all weekend.

i flew out on friday morning after an accidental late night celebrating cinco de mayo, which meant with the time change i effectively stayed up until 5 am EST three nights in a row. i am getting too old for this. but i digress.

flying cross country is a serious business. america is a really big place. i knew this already but you really start to know it when you've been on a plane for 3 hours. however, at rush as undergrads we would use 'how far would you drive them' to describe how much we liked someone. it is safe to say i would fly cross country for any of the usual suspects any time.

was joined by elise, brogiin and karla from the sd side, and we met diana's friends from high school who were fabulous. i have girl crushes on all of them, they're all honorary sd's, and it is abundantly clear that the wedding is going to be a real blast with all the amazingness that will be in attendance.

spent the weekend sunning, boozing, talking about hooking up and laughing over stories/memories from the years we've known each other. it both felt like so much time had passed but also hardly any time at all. i tweeted the gem quotes as they came up, but i think my favorite was 'are we going to slice that salami or is it here for entertainment purposes?' (answer: both).

we got drunk and rowdy during all you can drink at a mexican place on saturday afternoon. put on like a prayer and sang to the bar until we were literally cut off (from the music, not from the booze). i want my dollar back. we also rode a mini ferris wheel that was kind of ripping around (drinking made this more exciting) and did an impromptu photo booth session at the 'fun zone'. saturday night we headed out for dinner and dancing. one thing i will say in la's favor is they let you dance on the banquettes if you take off your shoes. done and done.

all the usual suspects were missed but can't wait until we meet back at the local saloon in july. kept thinking about the quote 'it's funny that pirates were always going around searching for treasure when they never realized the real treasure was the memories they were creating.' that's what it's about folks - memories and stories.

otherwise - have had a crazy busy week social and work wise. lots of dartmouth stuff going on, including a lecture by the chair of the classics department and tour of the discovery times square 'pompeii' exhibition on friday night. really looking forward to continuing my culture kick.

heading down to camden on sunday with stein to row in the alumni 8 at sprints (crew playoffs for you non rowers). looking forward to getting back in the bow and road tripping with her. and then next weekend is green key where i get to see kevin, fresh off of finishing up law school. excited to hang out on campus with him and colin, who will also be putting in an appearance.

in non-dartmouth news, i am getting an award at work which was surprising and unexpected but i'm thrilled that they're happy with the work i'm doing and recognizing that it hasn't been a walk in the park these last few months. am having fun thinking about how to spend the money - mac book perhaps?

i also signed a lease last thursday on an apt on 96th and amsterdam. i'll be living with a gay guy who has a kitty! seemed to be the best combo of the things i was looking for (in particular staying upper west side) and it's good to know what direction i'm headed. did realize that it's been almost a year since i lived with someone, and a good 4 years since i lived with someone i didn't know, but i figure this will work for the time being and we'll see where i net out around this time next year. everything can change and it usually does. i'll miss this apartment but onwards and upwards.

super short on sleep so i'm headed to bed. mwah!

avenging narwhals

stumbled on 'an avenging narwhal play set' last week. those of you who have known me for awhile know that i don't like whales (topic for another post, but what have they done for you lately hmm?), but i found the whole thing hilarious and am still cracking up about it. seemed like the kind of thing laurak would like so i shared it with her and discovered that maynard had purchased the same play set for a secret santa two years ago. brilliant minds think alike.

laurak and i were able to catch up last week as she is back on the mainland after sailing the south seas for the last few months. you can catch up with her exploits on her trip's blog: study abroad with SEA semester. she'll be heading back to hawaii for another round of trips, but will be coming to diana's wedding. i just bought my plane ticket yipee!

i think one of the problems i'm having with apt hunting is that i have a really big bedroom but an extremely small apartment (all in your perspective right?) and it's making all the other rooms i'm looking at seem less than in comparison, even if the apartment has its own bathroom and a bed i can have sex in. the hunt/hemming and hawing continues. in the words of kevin, 'i hem and haw for like every single fucking step i take in life.'

been puttering around my small apt/big bedroom this weekend paying bills, cleaning and grocery shopping. haven't done any traveling in the last couple weeks, and it's been really nice to sleep, take care of business and save money for a change. of course i am still looking forward to the summer travel season. in addition to diana's wedding i'm planning on several trips to the cape this summer, as my grandmother is doing much better health-wise, but still not super great, and i'm feeling that it's very important to spend time with family this summer. my cousin is graduating from dartmouth in june, so i'll be up there again to hang out with the family in woodstock, and then my grandparents will be on the cape (down the street from the raw bar!) for most of the summer. my sister and brother will be coming home for the 4th of july, so i'm planning to take some time to be there when they are, though it's really strange to have plan your vacation around your siblings so you can see them instead of going home and having them there. #welcometoadulthood

it looks like spring outside (you know how the light is just different in spring/summer?) but the air still doesn't really feel like it. i broke out the spring vera bradley bag today for my trip to get my hair done anyway. i'm still in dire shoe straits and it would really be great if i could wear flip flops on my commute to work. also i have a lot of cute spring dresses i'm dying to wear.

speaking of my hair, i am blonde. like really blonde. am about to find out if they have more fun for reals this time.

spent friday at work listening to the entire jimmy buffett hurricane concert in order to help remind me summer is coming and fun to look forward to. he had a great line: 'my job is too keep summer going for as long as possible.' amen.

lastly, enjoyed this quote from friday's ggmm:

Emoticons are like crocs, rhinestones and elliptical machines in the sense that their use is never acceptable, even under the guise of irony.

i use emoticons all the time but that doesn't mean i can't give that an 'ain't that the truth' laugh.

growing older but not up

greetings friends from the other side of 28. the big 2-8 was yesterday - thanks to everyone who called, facebooked and emailed to send bday wishes. spent the weekend down in dc with lingley and got to dance and eat ice cream cake - so i was pretty happy overall. they're a little closer to spring down there - actually saw some daffodils and crocuses - which was a nice change from the blustery and cold weather in nyc.

am a little reflective as i always am when a milestone occurs - so far 28 sounds older than 27 - and when i think about where i was last year and all that's occurred it's a little crazy. i frequently feel that, in the words of mary engelbreit, life is just so daily and that things will never change from what they currently are, but whenever i look back on the year or even the last three months i can see that's both not true and that sometimes things can happen very very quickly. 'everything can change and it usually does'.

my big birthday event was high tea at the plaza a week or so ago. tea at the plaza was on my new york bucket list (as is the statue of liberty - taking care of that with christine this wknd) so i rounded up rowena, mulley and ece and off we went. we went on a sunday afternoon so all of us were pretty hungover but it was held in the palm court and we ordered the new york tea with black and white cookies and cannolis (complete menu here) and just enjoyed being a little dressed up and treating ourselves to an enjoyable afternoon and delicious food and drinks.

had a nyc bday event at rudy's on thursday night as well. rudy's is one of my favorite bars - super divey, cheap and free hot dogs. lots of folks came out to help me celebrate, did beacoup birthday cake shots and blew out candles stuck in a hot dog. friday morning my mouth tasted like the shots and hot dogs. oh my. sunday we went to brunch in dc which turned into a very boozy brunch when the bartender gave us captain morgan and apple juice (money quote: it's like drinking christmas) and the nice couple next to us at the bar sent me a double patron shot at 1 pm. yes i threw it back like a champ. tonight we're doing the lobster dinner special at 'ulysses' that vin and i like to do with rowena as a final celebration. while the sunday bday is a little weird in terms of day of the week it does provide a really good reason to spread the celebration out over a couple of days!

in other news - was exceedingly hungover for tea due to the fact that the ivy league track championship was in nyc a couple weekends ago (aka 'heps') so we'd been out with the track alums at the hairy monk that saturday night. when i walked into the room someone goes 'this bar is full of speed and athleticism'. and it was. it was also like shooting fish in a barrel. was running game with at least 3 different guys at any one time. amazing. ended up hosting ahallification and an undergrad on the track team in my apt on sat night due to the fact they claimed they had nowhere to stay when the bar closed. for the record, it is possible to share my lofted bed with another person, i just wouldn't recommend it if you don't want to break the number one rule.

so! am back in nyc for a couple of weeks at least. need a break from traveling for a bit before the summer travel season heats up in may. am moderating a book discussion on wednesday night for the d club and then christine and boxa are in town this weekend. never a dull moment.

mwah!