Choo Choo Chooseday

Gentlemen, this is the Coast Starlight, one of the great American trains operating on one of the classic American routes. On this side, you’ll see panoramic ocean vistas inaccessible to any other form of transportation, while on your side, you’ll be treated to 350 miles of CostCos, Jiffy Lubes, and cinderblock homes with above-ground pools.

Over the past few years the Northeast Regional and I have become okay friends. Despite the fact that I think Amtrak is a huge rip off half the time I'd rather spend 5 hours on a train and that's it, than 7+ possible hours in the car stuck in traffic. For about the cost of two tanks of gas I am forgoing the traffic and sitting here in the very last seat in the very last car spending my time dicking around the internet, listening to music, applying to jobs, and writing parts of the books I'm working on.

Baltimore or bust!

WW: Another Dress Adventure

I'm not going to post any photos on the off chance Chris reads my blog, but Julianne found her wedding dress!

Huzzah!

We started off Saturday morning at Curvaceous Couture. Julianne, Casey, Cynthia and I had been there previously and there were one or two dresses that she really liked and wanted our mother to see.

What's interesting about Curvaceous Couture is it feels like an upscale bridal salon and they treat you like you're the most important person in the store, but they still have that homey family run business feel. Yukia Walker, the owner (who's pregnant - congrats!), is pretty much the illest bridal attendant ever.

She freaked Julianne out a little bit though. Apparently Julibean had mentioned something about her first experience at Curvaceous Couture on her blog and Yukia had not only read it, but taken action. Originally Julianne really wanted to try on a bunch of mermaid style gowns (girl has a nice butt, we like to flaunt it), but CC didn't really have many on hand. So after reading that, she ordered some mermaid style dresses.

I thought it was great that Yukia was so interested in pleasing her customers and catering to whatever need they had. Julianne thought it was weird. This is what the internet is for people! No doubt she's found this post and is reading this right now. (Hey lady!)

Julianne left CC with a few styles written down. I left with a style written down for an incredible veil. But I think I got the wrong style number or designer since I cannot find it ANYWHERE online. It was beyond perfect, white beaded flower (I was planning on making beaded flower bouquets for my bridesmaids so that's an epic awesomeness in coordination right there), with a feather or two, and it was the perfect angled birdcage. My note says it's a Kristina Eaton design but something makes me think it's actually a Sara Gabriel. It just seems more her style.

So if you are reading this Yukia, and you haven't already heard from me by phone, you know the veil I'm talking about? Can we find out what it's called and exactly which designer it is? kthanks.

After that we drove down to Virginia, met up with Becky and Andy, sent Chris off to hit the driving range with Andy, and nabbed Becky to stop in at Curvy Girls Bridal. They're new. Their website isn't fully up yet. But they're pretty fabulous.

The salon is a little bit more over the top than CC is, but they are also family run. They have a bunch of different designers than CC had so there was a little more variety. But they also freaked Julianne out a little. At the time of our appointment there wasn't anyone else in the store, so when Julianne came out of the dressing room for the first time there were like 20 people standing around because they wanted to be a part of it.

The CGB ladies are extremely nice and professional, the place was not as homey as CC but they did in fact have a "man cave" with the TV set to ESPN so any men who got dragged along could have a moment's silence away from all the estrogen. They do need to invest in slightly more stronger clippies. They were using plain plastic oversized clothespins to hold the dresses tighter to get the feel for how it would be in your size. The plastic guys weren't getting it done. They need the industrial metal clips, so that would be my only complaint.

Long story short Julianne found a fabulous La Sposa gown that was the right amount of mermaid and the right amount of ruffles. The price was perfect (hell it's about the same price as my dress and mine has half the fabric), and VA taxes are a far cry cheaper than NY taxes.

One less thing to worry about now that Julianne has found her dress. We'll start looking for bridesmaids dresses within the next month or so.

Overall the ladies at Curvy Girl Bridal were wonderful, but they definitely were not as hilarious as Yukia and the staff at Curvaceous Couture. If you're a plus size or just slightly curvy lady in the Baltimore/DC/N.VA area, I highly recommend going to either place (or both!) to find your wedding dress. They really understand brides who aren't a perfect size six.

...my fingers are kind of itching to try that veil on again...I might have to go back to CC to buy it!

c25k Week 1, Day 3

I didn't actually think she was serious, but Julianne told me she wanted to go for a run with me Saturday morning. I am not really a runner, although I'm trying to become one. Julianne is even further from being a runner than I am.

She was wonderful this week and got to the gym 5 days in a row. That's impressive, I can't even do that. When I woke her up this morning before seven she wanted to hurt me. We got dressed and went out into the misty morning.

For some reason we decided to take our walk/run on the trail in the woods behind their house. About two minutes into the warm up Julianne "remembered how hilly it was"...we're not joking people, it was hilly.

I tried not to think about it. We did pretty well running up and down the little crests and peaks. We hit the main road and Julianne was pretty much done running because her shoes weren't cooperating. She's in the market for a new pair that doesn't let her foot fall out the back.

So I basically continued walk/running and Julianne power walked while I back tracked to her.

Probably the hilight of our run was the following:

An old man called me frisky.

Then he proceeded to tell me to slow down.

All in all, the work out felt good. I have absolutely no idea how far we traveled, but it was a good time.

Dance Party Friday: Spin it

Yeah. I went there.

After work Mama and I leave to go see Julianne for the weekend. Dress shopping, and hopefully no cat fights.

DPF: One Minute!

In celebration of the Big Red Freakout tomorrow, here's a touchdown dance for the record books.

To me it shouts

"Goooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal!!!"

Leaving for the Capital Region this afternoon. Lots to do, lots of fun to be had, and important people to see!

Dance Party Friday LIVES

It snowed again. I had a few excellent conversations with my father this morning...

Dad: Looks like 3" of snow.
Mom: 3" isn't that significant.
Dad: 3" is significant to me, I have to shovel that shit!
Me: It could be worse, it could actually be shit.
Dad: 3"of shit covering everything? Yeah, that'd be worse. It'd be like the Susquehanna rose up and tried to kill us.

I'll miss these sorts of exchanges when I move.

Leaving work early today to hit the road with Casey and head down to the MD to visit Julibean.

We plan on watching horrible girly movies, go wedding dress shopping for her, put together a bed frame, and look at color swatches for her invitations.

I hope "Prince-Edward" has been as distracting to you as it has been to me...

Hotel, Motel, Holiday Inn

Leaving this afternoon for Maryland then tomorrow onward to Virginia. It's no wonder I put so many miles on Lulu.


Image borrowed from KinokoFry

Party in the USA

Let me first start out by saying I have awesome friends.

Then allow me to continue to explain that when I told my friends we were having a Party in the USA themed Quarter Century Birthday Extravaganza at the beach house and were requesting everyone wear the most ridiculous cacophony of red, white and blue they could muster, they all seemed pretty excited. (Or at least, willing to humor the birthday girl).

I think the best way to describe the rest of the day is through photos, so if you'll allow me...

When we reached the beach house and we realized we were a few drinks behind everyone else, we realized we had to catch up. I spied a fishbowl-like glass in the kitchen, rinsed it out, and poured some wine in it. For the rest of the weekend, we all enjoyed drinking out of the fishbowl and it may or may not have been the very best idea, but it was pretty awesome at the time.

It was about half a fishbowl in that we realized the house next door looked like it was smiling at us.
Chris showed us the importance of packing properly when going on a hike. Craig accepted to being his human backpack.

About a third of the way through the fishbowl, Amanda has a tremendous idea! Chris is obviously missing white from his ensemble and she decides to help him out by lending him her apron. ...Oh the things our men let us do to them...

We all sat around on various blankets in the backyard while some of our awesome friends cooked and BBQed.

I could have sworn I had a photo of the three of them sitting there like old men talking and eating, but this one will just have to do.

Jamie showed off her best Statue of Liberty impression.

And then Craig showed us how he gets all the ladies:

All in all I have to say it was a top night. A stellar birthday! Definitely one to remember, and it was so great that Chris and Julibean hosted us all at the beach house. We had a very random crowd of friends around and they all got along so well it was fantastic.

I couldn't have asked for a better birthday!

A VA Weekend

Spent a wonderful weekend with Jason in Virginia.

Last time I was down there I realized how close he actually is to Williamsburg so this time around we decided to head up to Busch Gardens.

I've only ever been to Busch Gardens Tampa which I knew was an African Safari, so I had no idea what to expect out of Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

Once we got there I realized that I had been there once in high school as part of a band trip when we had a competition in Virginia Beach. In fact I vividly remember going on Apolo's Chariot with my friend Joey and it was his first roller coaster ever and he was so excited/nervous about it. But anyway...

We decided to just go for the annual passes. They pay for themselves after two visits and since Jason currently lives 20 minutes away from the park we figure when people come to visit us we can take them there for a day of fun. PLUS you get things like free parking, 10% off some merchandise and food inside the park and discounts on tickets for friends. We figured it was a win-win-win situation and didn't look back.

I totally forgot that Busch Gardens is more zoological/conservation type theme park and less adventure/rides type of theme park. I love animals. My parents took us everywhere when we were younger to go bird watching and I surprise myself sometimes when I spout information like, "Oh that's just a hooded merganser" or "Hey check out this kookaburra!" What can I say, we're nature people...

So seeing animals like eagles and wolves and other wildlife that have been rescued from shelters or from the wild is nice. All these animals would otherwise have died where they were so I applaud people (and companies) who adopt animals and help conserve nature.

We wandered about and enjoyed the European Pavillions. We joked how if we wound up in Germany for lunch we'd make sure Jason would stay away from any salmon he saw.

We did in fact wind up eating in Germany and got to see the show, which is one of the things I really wanted to catch while in the park. (Don't worry, Jason was safe and ate a turkey sandwich. Although he said that if he could do it over again he wouldn't have gotten it. The meat was dry and sort of bland. My combination plate with three different sausages - we all know how much I love those - was excellent.)

There's something about an oompah band playing the polka that gets me every time!

The stage itself was awesome. Or at least I thought it was. The gazebo had all of the music stands set up and the band marched in with the dancers. Then the band sat down and the platform of the gazebo raised them up above the rest of the structure.

You can see them sitting up there near the really cool ceiling. Das Festhaus is actually a beautiful building on the inside. All of the ceiling are these fabric ribbonesque panels that are woven into patterns.

It was just such a happy environment. Jason even turned to me and said, "Man, your people know how to have a good time!"

Gotta love z'Germans!

We continued to wander around and sat down to watch another show in Italy. The singers were excellent. A traditional group of minstrels I suppose you could call them.

A lot of the songs were sung in Italian so I had a very meager understanding. It's similar enough to the other romance languages that I can gather the gist of what they are saying, and the tunes of the songs were familiar but I would have enjoyed subtitles :P

The guitarists that accompanied them around was extremely talented and hilarious. He actually started following around people with trays of food and wandered off chasing children. It was wildly entertaining.

When we were in Scotland we caught a show of different animals doing trained acrobatics. It pretty funny. They mathematician birds and jump roping dogs. Even a pig!

That's all folks!

The weekend was nice, I wish it had lasted longer and my feet are still killing me from walking around the park all day, but I heart roller coasters and we got our fair share of those!

Crazy Go Nuts

This weekend was extremely productive. Laura and I got a whole lot done.

Typically when we get together we make a whole lot of plans to do certain things and then we only get maybe two out of the seven things done. This weekend we got everything done except one thing...and that was to eat corndogs. Alas, regrettably we just couldn't fit it in to our busy schedule.

However the following things on our list got done:

• Candle Party - This was the reason I left work a little early on Friday, so I could get up to Albany and be there for Laura/Chrissy's Candle Party. It's like a Tupperware Party except with fire.
• Folded all 125 pocketfolds for the invitations.
  
  
  Our hand crafted pocketfolds.
  
  
• Stamped the return address on the back of all invitation envelopes.
• Stamped their address on all the RSVP envelopes.
  
  
• Went to GoodWill and found glass containers of various shapes and sizes for Laura's candy buffet.
• Went to a few antique stores and found a bracelet for Laura to wear to her wedding. Her grandmother had given her a necklace and earrings ages ago and we managed to find a bracelet (decently priced) that matches the set exactly!
  
  
• Hit up a good sale at Michael's and got the last bit of adhesive tape, stamp pads, and various other things we needed for wedding crafting and the like. I love when absolutely everything on my receipt is 20% off.

I'm going back up to Albany this weekend because we are in fact still a weekend's worth of work behind because of the funeral and the fact that I haven't been able to get up there since.

So for this week I am racing to get the invitations designed, printed and cut. As well as two of the four inserts designed, printed and cut. Then this weekend we'll assemble what we have so far and emboss their monogram on the invitations and the belly bands and put those together as well.

No rest for the bridesmaids. As if I could complain about doing stuff that's so creative and fun!

Ahhhhhhhh-lympics

The Olympics were everything I expected them to be an so much more!

Really. I mean that.

We decided (as suggested by the Olympic website) to park and take the train into Vancouver.

Let me just say I am so glad that I got to go to the Olympics in Canada. All of the volunteers were incredibly nice, friendly and helpful even if you didn't ask a question. We were walking around Vancouver and I said something along the lines of "We're going to this street, it's three or four blocks ahead." And a nice volunteer in a bright blue jacket that was waiting next to us at the red light to cross the street said, "Yes! You're right!"

I wasn't lost, nor was I even asking a question. But it was nice that he was there to reassure me that I was correct in my journey. Sometimes when you're traveling in a not too familiar place it's comforting to know you're doing it right.

Anyway, back to the Olympics. We rode the train for free. Originally we were worried that since we had our tickets through Will Call that we'd be asked by a conductor or something to see them while we were on the train since public transportation was supposed to be free for any ticket-holders.

As far as we could tell the entire public transportation system seemed to be on the honors system. It was crazy! Only in Canada, right? Anyone could ride for free since no one was checking for tickets but there were still people purchasing them at the station when we got there. Crazy Canadians, that would never work in NYC.

An RCMP at the station told us that the arena was a few blocks from the other train station and we could walk it or take a shuttle. It was starting to rain so we opted for the shuttle.

Let me just go on the record for saying that I love the whole design aesthetic and color choice for the Vancouver games. Really. The blues and greens were beautifully combined in multiple murals and enclosures as we arrived at the venue.

We got through security and immediately had some Molsons. They had added extra bathroom facilities to the arena so when we decided to make a pit stop we walked into the bathroom and were met with a tent. It was so interesting. The bathroom door was really a door to the outside of the arena and you entered this semi-permanent tent they had attached to the building full of port-o-potties. And these were classy port-o-potties, you could actually fit in them. I was impressed.

Cutest little Zamboni ever!

Then we got to our seats and watched the venue fill up slowly. The officials were selecting the rocks and the maintenance crew was watering and smoothing the ice. It was wildly entertaining to watch the little Zamboni go up and down the ice.

Then the event began and the crowd was intense. There were probably about 30 Swedish fans in the entire arena. All the rest were Canadians with a sprinkling of random countries like the US.

We were surrounded by Canadian curling fans. And let me tell you, the know their curling. The lady sitting behind Dan and Julianne spent a little time narrating what was going on so they got it. And the two gentlemen sitting behind Jason and I were discussing the entire match's strategy. They were all super nice.

I got cold, so I used the flag as a blanket.

Medal ceremony.

All in all. GREATEST TRIP EVER. Really. I had so much fun. The Canadians were so nice and accommodating and really just the perfect Olympic Hosts.

Plus I got to ring my cowbell like nobody's business!!!

Vancouver, eh?

Got an early start and packed the car. Including Dan's American flag that flew over the Capitol so we could (as Dan put it) represent our country. Before we left Dan demanded that everyone take out their passports and wave them around so he could see them.

We had a little bit of a drama about the passports. Back in August when I visited Jason in VA and we booked our flights for this trip I told him that he needed to get a passport since it's mandatory for travel into Canada now.

I didn't really think anything of it until a month ago when Dan randomly reminded me that we need passports for our trip. So I called Jason and asked him if he had ever applied for one and of course since he's a Koala he hadn't. Basically he had to pay the extra money to get it in 2-4 weeks instead of 4-6 weeks and he had to run around and miss part of a day of work to do it. He's special, but I love him.

Anyway, I asked Dan to wave around his passport too, since he was demanding we did. Is nice, no?

It took us a little over an hour to get up to the border and we went straight through, making sure to switch the car's computer to kilometers so we weren't speeding through Canada.

The Peace Arch

We drove straight up to Vancouver and decided to park and wander around after we picked up the tickets. There were people everywhere. We wandered over to the mall because the Olympic Superstore was there and we wanted to do some shopping. After searching around a bit we finally found it but you had to go out of the mall to enter the area. They literally had the store blocked off with traffic barriers.

Dan: You know, this isn't the Berlin wall. We can just jump over it, it's not like they have machine guns or anything.
Canadian guy behind us: *laughs at Dan's choice words*
Me: Shut up Dan, we're representing our country. No international incidents, remember?

Our father's one rule for our trip was not to cause any international incidents that might bring shame to our family or our country.

After giving up on the line that was two blocks long just to get into the Superstore, we wandered up to Stanley Park. Dan missed the first turn into the parking lot for the totem poles and I'm kind of glad he did because we pulled off into another parking lot near the Olympic Rings.

It was pretty. And we made it over to the totem park a few minutes later. I knew from the last trip I'd taken to Vancouver with my parents that there was a little gift shop next to the totem poles and I was hoping they'd have some of the Olympic merchandise we were looking for without the lines we saw downtown.

There was absolutely no line, and spent a good hour picking out Olympic paraphernalia and gifts to bring home to people. The ladies there are super nice and incredibly helpful. I recommend doing any Vancouver-related shopping there. They have a beautiful collection of aboriginal art, I brought a print home for my parents to add to their collection.

Those red mittens were everywhere!

After our shopping spree we drove a little further north up to Capilano. I really wanted Jason to see the Capilano Suspension Bridge and Julibean hadn't been there yet either. We had a lot of fun wandering through the trees. And I think we all enjoyed ourselves immensely.

Enjoying the view from the bridge.

Classic.

The closest we got to a Mountie.

We spent the night in a hotel in Chilliwack which was about an hour east of Vancouver. It was the cheapest thing we could find for the night that didn't seem really sketchy. It was pretty nice.

Tomorrow:

• Gold Medalist Women's Curling!!!
  

More West Coast Shenanigans

Today was quite the full day. Jason and I went over to Bob's to look at a few couches and dining room sets. We liked one of the couches but they didn't have anything in the country kitchen kind of genre I want for a dining room set. (More on this later).

Then the three of us hopped on our JetBlue flight out to Seattle and we were greeted at the airport by Dan. I haven't seen Dan since Jaclyn's wedding since he couldn't come home for Christmas this year. I've missed Dan.

We killed some time at Ikea and Jason and I fought over tables. He's super picky...even more picky than I am about really odd things. (Again, more on this later).

Met Dan's friend Christina for Pho. We love Pho, if you haven't had it, what the hell are you waiting for? Just make sure you save me some bean sprouts!

Jason had a little spill at the condiment counter.

We hung out around the house and packed our bags for Canada. And now we're just enjoying catching up a little bit with Dan.

Tomorrow's agenda:

1. Drive to Vancouver to pick up tickets from Will Call Office.
2. Stanley Park!
3. Capilano Suspension Bridges.
   

Today's the Day!

Today we get on our flight out of JFK and head for Seattle. I'm super excited.

I get to see my brudder.

I get to ring my cowbell.

I get to go to the huge-ass Ikea.

AND I get to eat Pho.

Where can you go wrong with a day like that?

A Stressful Calm

So I had a wonderful weekend with Jason in Virginia. I managed to get out of New York before the snow started falling in VA which was good. It snowed at least 3 inches though, possibly closer to half a foot.

In true NH style we went out in the snow regardless of the fact Virginians don't know how to plow. It's okay, the Hunter loves slush and Jason enjoys fishtailing on purpose. Ran some errands and bought Jason a DVD player for real cheap at BestBuy and hooked it up to the giant TV his friend grandfathered to him when he shipped out in November.

Before that literally the TV was just sitting in the middle of the room...it wasn't even a sad TV facing the corner like it had done something wrong...it was front and center screaming "I'M NOT BEING USED BUT I'M HERE AND I'M PROUD!" Not plugged into anything, just sitting there taking up space at an odd angle that really bothered me (one of my neurotic tendencies involves things being even (or sometimes completely odd)...I will go about straightening photo frames on walls and shifting papers so they are flush in a stack). So we hooked up the DVD player, moved the TV back into the corner and watched a few movies.

It was a nice low-key weekend and we did a whole lot of nothing and some good talking which is important in any relationship. Basically this whole long distance thing blows and we're going to be rectifying the situation as soon as penguinly possible. Jason is still waiting to hear if he got his full time position and if not my sister is trying to convince him to move to Baltimore and find a job in the MD so we can all live there like one big happy family.

Meanwhile I spent a good deal of my morning organizing our Olympic Adventure! I went through all of the confirmation emails and copied them into a neat little document and printed all that information out. Then I sifted through all the transportation around Vancouver and printed out maps for park and rides and bus/train lines. And in true Elise-like fashion I went into the maps and circled important points and labeled extra options and routes. Then I folded everything up nicely and put it into a brightly colored folder.

Most importantly I started our checklist on the inside of the folder, you know, things that are a must to remember to pack and bring along otherwise we're screwed.

• Passport
• Pants
• Student ID (for discounts at Capilano)
  
• Comfortable boots
• Light layers
• Flight confirmation
• Hotel confirmation
• Ticket confirmation

So far that's all I have. Yes, there are those of us who might forget to pack pants *cough cough* Jason *cough cough* if it's not on the list plus in my mind whenever I think "Passport" I recall the scene in Bridget Jones when they're taking her away for New Years and her friends are packing and one of them just says: "Passport Bridget, and pants!" "Passport, pants..." she repeats.

I thought that putting all of this information and organizing our travel plans would be stressful. And we still aren't 100% on where we'll be parking outside of the city but I feel a strange sense of calm now that all the information I could find is all in one neat place.

I'm so excited about this trip.
I'm so excited to see my brother!
And I'm so excited to ring my cowbell.

Dance Party Friday: Peanuts!

Tonight I wing my way down to Virginia for the weekend to spend some much needed time with my Silly. Honestly, this whole long distance thing isn't so wonderful and we're hoping that within the next few months we'll be able to make a decision about moving and whatnot.

So to cheer myself up about the whole arrangement and to also (I hope) instill some happiness in all of you, please enjoy the Peanut Gang getting down with their bad selves.

Good morning Baltimore!

In case I hadn't mentioned it, my sister Julianne and her boyfriend Chris got engaged! Currently Chris is living outside of Baltimore while Julibean finishes out her first year of law school. She's looking to transfer to another DC/MD area school next year.

This past weekend was their engagement party down in the MD. Julibean and I packed into the newly fixed but still not perfect Lulu, and drove down. It was painful. I'm sorry New Jersey, but learn how to drive!

We finally made it into Maryland and to celebrate Julibean swapped a bunch of ridiculous cds into Lulu's 6-cd changer and I was shocked, but not all together surprised that she had chosen the Swan Princess soundtrack. Yes friends, I love the Swan Princess and a lot of other non-Disney animated movies! *gasp*

Our favorite tracks include the opening number: This is My Idea and Far Longer than Forever performed in all it's 90s glory by Jeffrey Osbourn and Regina Belle. I'm always the man in that duet. If you haven't heard this magical song, the best I can do for you is this video of the credits.

Anyway, when we finally got to Chris' apartment we enjoyed some good pizza, some good beer, and some good company as our friends began to pour in. It was a good night of frivolity, as you can see by the happy faces of Rich and Morgan as we played Uno Explode or whatever the Uno game is called where it spits cards at you.

The engagement party was also a great time. A bunch more of Julibean's friends showed up who happen to live in the Baltimore area or who were visiting family there that weekend. And since we had about 8 former PC Kids we even sang a few songs a cappella for Chris' grandparents.

The whole gang (minus Cynthia *sadface*)

All in all a great weekend, plus I got to see Jason since Baltimore is half way between Virginia and LI and that was simply wonderful!


I had to tack this last photo on at the end because Chris is the least photogenic person EVER and he actually looks pretty good in this shot!