Wanderlust

'Tis the season for daydreaming, and, when the air gets chilly and all you want to do is curl up in bed with a cup of tea and a good book, you start to daydream.  I'm sure you all can guess what I daydream about...TRAVELING!!! That's right, my wanderlust is rearing its ugly (only not ugly, more beautiful) head again.  You may be wondering to yourself why I am already starting to think about my next trip, being that I just went to Europe with my family last Christmas, but the truth is, there is nothing I love more than exploring a new place and having things to MARVEL at (I think I stole that sentiment of wanting to marvel at something from Eat Pray Love).  I don't mean to have an expensive hobby, I just love immersing myself in new cultures and getting lost in new towns and cities.  There's something so romantic about it!

Without further ado, some locations at the top of my travel list (in no particular order):

Italia:  I have been to Italy twice (once to Sicily, once to Naples, once to Rome, twice to Florence, once to Pisa and once in the train station in Milan), but what kind of girl would I be to turn down a return trip?!  Dan has never been before and it is very high up on his list, so that is definitely a trip worth pinching our pennies for.  We are both part-Italian, and I, for one, always love visiting countries where my ancestors came from.  Add to that breathtaking scenery, bustling and historic cities, high fashion, and mouth-wateringly delicious food (pasta and gelato, I'm looking at you) and you have the makings for a perfect trip.  Is it too soon to book now?!?

Sigh...Positano. via art.com

  

Toscana. via me1ka

Bruschetta. via Clemmensen-Brok

Hawaii:  Those of you who know me will know that I am not a huge beach person.  I like going to the beach on a day trip, but there is something about going to the beach for a week or so that I dislike.  I think part of it is that, often, when I go to the beach, there is nothing to do in these beach towns besides going to the beach (the exception is The Cape...oh, how I long for New England summers...).  HOWEVER, I think that, if I were to be offered a trip to Hawaii, I would be hard pressed to find a good excuse not to go.  I love the idea of going to an island paradise and just indulging in pure relaxation.  Except, knowing me, I would want to be going for long runs, snorkeling (assuming that no sharks are within a hundred-mile radius of me), hiking up volcanoes to see the sun rise (Dan requested that we go at sunset instead, which I might be willing to compromise on) and doing other active things, obviously.  To counter that, though, fruity drinks and couples' massages sound positively peachy!

I think I could be okay with this. via flickr

Cali: I was telling Dan about dinner with a friend and the friend's mother from earlier this week, and, when I told him that Mrs. H had traveled from San Diego, he said, "I want to go to San Diego!".  He knows how badly I want to go to Northern California (a.k.a San Francisco and Napa), so we compromised and said that we would do both.  Now that that's settled, we just have to pinch our pennies and save up our vacation time!  An interesting question came up during this conversation: are there an inordinate number of DUIs in Napa from all of the tourists who go on wine tastings at the many vineyards there?  Inquiring minds want to know :)

Lovely San Fran.  via UCSF

Napa. I want to go to there! via Travel Guide

Chicago:  I absolutely fell in love with Chicago when I visited last year (even though I visited at the end of February, when it was bitterly cold and windy to the point where I barely removed my puffer coat).  I am beyond thrilled to be going back again for my college friend Kristin's wedding at the end of June!! I can't wait to see the city in the summer, since I have heard so many amazing things about it!  If I love it as much in the summer as I did in the winter, we may have a serious contender for cities to live in in the future!

<3 chicago.="chicago." href="http://trendytraveler.tumblr.com/post/7102650528" target="_blank" via="via">Trendy Traveler

France:  I know, I'm such a broken record, since I have now traveled to France three times and lived there for nearly four months.  But, for those of you who have never been to France before, there is something indescribably wonderful about France.  I mean, American expats went there in droves in the '20s, so there must hav ebeen something special about the place!!  All of the sights, smells, sounds, tastes, and the beautiful language leave me walking on air my entire time there.  A coworker recently moved to Paris to teach English to Parisian high-schoolers, and I have to admit that I am insanely jealous of her.  I am so fortunate to have had the study-abroad stint in Strasbourg that I did, but France is so addictive that you never stop wanting more of it.  My ideal French vacation?  Driving through the French countryside (first roadblock: neither Dan nor I can drive stick shift cars, which might prove to be a major complication) and staying at quaint little mom and pop B&Bs, eating cheese and bread and drinking wine with reckless abandon, and hitting some cities too along the way.

I am literally in heaven sitting outdoors at a French café. via Yanidel

Musée d'Orsay.  LOVE.  via bippityboppityboo

The twinkling lights on La Tour are indescribably magical :) via Erin Ever After
 
With unlimited funds (and vacation time), there are many other trips that I would take (namely, to South Africa, Australia, and the parts of Europe I have not been to- Germany, Austria, Croatia and the Czech Republic).  But for now, the aforementioned trips are the ones that are most on my mind.  In any event, I am going to start doing some more work travel soon (I'm taking a three-day trip to Philly and Pittsburgh in November for events, which I'm really excited about!), which will hopefully satisfy my wonderlust, however temporarily!

However, since literally none of those big trips are in my budget right now, what I really want the most is to do a trip to an apple orchard or farm near DC.  Again, you can take the girl out of New England, but not the New England out of the girl.  I was telling Dan the other day how some of my happiest fall memories involve going to a farm that was near our old house in Massachusetts and picking our own apples (Macouns were our absolute favorites).  We would pick our sack of apples, peruse the fresh baked goods and vegetables at the farm stand, and then bring the apples home to make applesauce or apple pie.  Just thinking about it brings a smile to my face, and he was only being somewhat sarcastic with his "Awww" reaction haha.  In fact, if you really want to hear an "Awww" story, my freshman and sophomore years of college, my dad sent away to an orchard in upstate New York (where Macouns are primarily grown) and had them send me an entire box of my favorite apples.  That father of mine, so sweet and thoughtful :)  Anyway, my goal for this fall is to find an orchard or farm somewhere relatively close to the city.  I have been itching to do it for years, and this is going to be the year.  It's a fool-proof plan, because Dan LOVES apple pie, so he'll have to go with me, right?! 

Sorry for the long post, everyone.  I let my travel excitement get the best of me!

A nip in the air :)

It is FINALLY officially my favorite time of year, fall :)  You can take the girl out of New England, but you can't take the New England out of the girl, I suppose. I love nothing more than walking outside and feeling just a nip in the air, as though you need a light jacket. If I were a coffee drinker, I would be all over a pumpkin spice latte right about now, but sadly, I'll just stick to tea and hot chocolate.  I'm not going to lie, though, I was oozing with happiness yesterday as I put on my jeans, flats, a fallish-looking plaid shirt and a blazer.  The first days of fall are the best!

On Friday, one of my beloved college roommates, Kate, was in town for some interviews, so a group of us met up for dinner at Founding Farmers.  A fruity drink and some delicious, hearty food was exactly what the doctor ordered after a long and stressful week (it seems like they have all been that way lately), and, of course, the time spent with friends was so rejuvenating.  Kate had a relatively early flight to catch and wasn't up for anything crazy (which, after my week, I frankly was not either), so we ended up going back to our apartment, baked cookies and chatted.  The night flew by, and it was such a treat to have one of my close friends come in from out of town.  Even though I have been keeping busy spending time with lots of friends here in DC, my heart always aches when I think of my friends who are scattered all around the country now (as a note, I tend to feel this way every year around Homecoming, as Hoya alumni come in from out of town).

On Saturday morning, I had a great run and did a much-overdue cleaning of the apartment (the weekend of our race was my weekend to clean, so, due to circumstances out of my control, I wasn't able to clean that weekend; and, ever since we got home from the hospital, I have been so busy that I haven't had time to clean. But the pile of hair on the bathroom floor was getting disgusting- that's what you get when two long-haired girls live together haha!).  Then, I went over to Dan's. I hadn't seen him since Wednesday (which is a long time for us), so I was so happy to get to spend the day with my guy.  We attempted to go to the Clarendon Day festivities, but, once we got down into the Metro, we figured out it was going to be a half-hour wait.  Being that I knew that it was not at all Dan's first preference (he was going to be a trooper and go for a little while though!), I suggested hitting a museum instead.  Neither of us had been to the Smithsonian Castle, so we headed down there and walked around a little bit.  It ended up being perfect, because Dan still gets tired very easily, so it wasn't too large of a museum to tackle.  Afterward, we perused the National Book Festival, which was happening down on the Mall.  They had tents devoted to different genres, and there were keynote authors speaking in each of those tents.  There was also a tent where you could purchase those featured authors' books.

Next, we schlepped over to Chinatown to see The Bourne Legacy.  There was a Bourne marathon on TV last weekend and, to Dan's delight, I discovered that I actually really like the movies.  This one was sort of disappointing, because, while Jeremy Renner is an indisputable badass, we both agreed that we liked Matt Damon better.  This one was also less spy thriller, more biological warfare, which isn't exactly my thing.  We went to Graffiato for dinner, because we knew people who had gone and wanted to try it.  It actually turned out to be really disappointing.  I can now say that I've tried ceviche, but I absolutely do not like it (I didn't think you could possibly ruin seabass, but now I know that it is, indeed, possible).  We had planned to go to Dairy Queen anyway once we got home, but the growling in my stomach following dinner made a trip there a necessity.  All in all, it was a relaxing and wonderful day with my guy :)  It has definitely been a bit of a challenge to find things to do, given the fact that he is still under the doc's orders not to drink until his liver enzyme levels and CPK levels normalize, but I think that we were able to find a really nice mix on Saturday of doing things in the city and having some relaxation time as well.  Yay us!!  I know it will be tough on him not to be able to drink during Homecoming this weekend, so I'll let him dictate how long we stay at the tailgate (after all, cheap beer hurts my stomach anyway!).

On Sunday, I met up with Lauren following her triumphant return from her first work trip (yay, so proud of her!!!).  Since she was feeling under the weather, we relaxed at her apartment and swooned over Ryan Reynolds watched Definitely Maybe.  That was perfectly fine by me, because I was exhausted!  I had only slept until 7 on Saturday morning so that I could get up and run/clean, and, since Dan had left at around 7:30 for his tee time on Sunday morning and I couldn't fall back asleep, I decided to just get up and run.  All of that meant that I was somewhat lacking in sleep, so I needed some quality relaxation time.

This week is promising to be yet another hectic one (surprise surprise).  There are two birthday celebrations that will take up several days this weekend, plus Homecoming.  But, to start the week off, tonight I am going to happy hour with a few girlfriends and one girl's mom.  I am really excited to meet her!  Then, I am Skyping with one of my very best friends from college.  Tomorrow and Wednesday, I have promised Dan that I'm all his, since I have birthday celebrations on Thursday and Friday nights.  I feel bad for ditching him this week...I have been catching myself wondering where September went, and it really has been because I have been so darn busy!!  I would like to be able to tell you that October will be less hectic, but that is not the case :(  Oh well, as I said at this time last year (when I also had a ridiculously busy October), I'll sleep when I'm dead! 

I hope you all had a lovely weekend, and Happy Fall to all of you!!

That moment when...

...I rediscovered Georgetown!  And oh, what a discovery it was!  I have spent so much time in Georgetown over the past 6+ years that, frankly, I had gotten a little sick of it, preferring to explore other areas of DC.  Last night, I met up with my dear friend Jamie, who I had not seen in AGES (thanks in part to her extensive work travel and my NH vacation and then stay in VA Beach) for dinner at Café La Ruche, literally one of the most adorable restaurants I have ever been to.  I first went there two-and-a-half years ago, during Senior Week, for Allie's birthday dinner, and, being that it is really tucked away on a side street, I always tend to forget about it.  But Jamie and I were planning on gorging ourselves on cupcakes after dinner at Baked & Wired, so, when she suggested some place with light fare for dinner, Café La Ruche came immediately to mind.  See pictures below!

Seriously, have you seen a more adorable restaurant?!

The interior, also adorable

Not only is the restaurant cute and quaint (French décor, including Parisian street signs, everywhere), but the food is cheap and delicious!  I got a vegetable quiche and Jamie got French Onion Soup and a brie plate, so we got to sit there and catch up, munching on our yummy food and listening to the guitar-playing of the resident musician.  When we got there, the restaurant was empty, but, before long, a HUGE French tourist group (we're talking 30ish people) crammed into the tiny restaurant, and, I think the fact that there were so many French people there proves that the place is legit.

From there, we walked a block along the canal to B&W, where we got to sit and chat some more before shutting the place down.  A walk back to Dupont was a perfect ending for the evening, since the rain, which had been following constantly throughout the day, had let up for the evening.  A wonderful evening with a true kindred spirit, as Anne Shirley would say!

We survived the first week back!

As you all know from my previous post, last week was Dan's and my first week back in DC after our "vacation" at the hospital in Virginia Beach.  It was definitely not a fun first week back, I'm not going to sugarcoat it.  I spent much of the week feeling overwhelmed both by the amount of catchup work I had and a time-consuming project that largely kept me from catching up on any of those things.  By Friday afternoon, I was physically and emotionally spent, and needed a good meal and a good night's sleep more than anything. 

Dan and I went to Commissary on Friday for dinner.  The promise of one of their veggie burgers always makes my mouth water, and, since Dan's appetite was finally back, many of the things on the menu actually sounded appetizing to him as well (he ended up getting brats).  After our post-dinner walk back to the metro, we lounged around at home.  His doctor prohibited him from drinking alcohol for the next month due to the way his liver was affected by the heatstroke and ensuing complications, so we couldn't do anything that involved drinking.  Wanting to lift his spirits, I had baked him an apple pie (his favorite), bought a bottle of sparkling cider (which we didn't even drink because we were too full from dinner and pie), and downloaded some Aziz Ansari stand-up, which was, as expected, hilarious.

After getting a good night's sleep, I went for a run, while Dan got to catch up a bit more on sleep.  When I got back, I made Dynk's pancakes for us.  For those of you who don't know, Dynk (a.k.a. Kevin) was a close family friend of ours who used to go up to the Lake with us. He tragically passed away from a brain tumor about 11 years ago, but his memory lives on in the pancakes that he used to make for the entire Lake clan.  They are thin, crepe-like pancakes, and, with some maple syrup and berries, they are magnifiques!!  Since it was such a beautiful day, we ate out on my deck and basked in the brisk, fall-like day.  That afternoon, a close friend of Dan's stopped by his place to see how he was feeling, a visit that I think both of us really appreciated.  Afterward, we played a heated game of mini golf.  I had said earlier in the day that I would love to taek advantage of the great weather and do something outside, and he suggested mini golf as an activity that would be a) outside, and b) not too strenuous for him.  We tied (I blew a one-stroke lead going into the last hole), so, once again, I missed out on making him cook dinner for me.  We are definitely wayyyyy too competitive haha.

Look at that intensity haha

With some lovely friends at Maggie's bday party!

On Saturday night, I went to a good friend's birthday party for a while.  She and I have known each other since we were seven, so it is always good to spend some time with her.  I went back to Dan's afterward and we indulged in a little Bourne-trilogy marathon on TV. On Sunday morning, we went to Mass (neither of us had been in a very long time...oops) and then out to brunch at Clyde's.  Then, I spent the rest of the day relaxing at my parents' house.  It was wonderful to see them, as always, particularly since I hadn't seen them since before the race.  Even though I was still exhausted at the end of the weekend, I felt so refreshed after having been able to spend time with family and friends.  Most importantly, though, spending time with Dan that did not involve a hospital bed was such a welcome change.  He is doing so much better every day, and I have felt so grateful for the continued messages of love and support from family and friends.  I was definitely feeling very emotional at the beginning of last week, when I finally let myself emotionally process what had happened, but he and I agreed that we are not going to dwell on this and, in fact, want to go back to being just "us," not nurse and patient.  I like that attitude :)  I hope your weekends were equally relaxing and wonderful!

My unexplained absence

Thank you all for your patience as I have been attempting to get my life back together this week! The past few weeks have been a roller coaster, but I think we're close to coming out the other side in one piece.

As you all know (how could you not, with me reminding you constantly?!), Dan and I ran the Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon in Virginia Beach over Labor Day weekend.  We had both been training (separately and together) very hard for this race, and we were really excited.  We went out for a delicious pre-race carb loading dinner on Saturday night with my coworker and her husband (more on them later), who were also running.  We went to bed VERY early, as we were set to wake up at 4:15 a.m. 

I had a dream that night that everything kept going wrong with our race.  I can't remember the specifics now, but I remember it being that a lot of little things went wrong.  I guess someone should just give me a crystal ball...race day was HOT (probably mid-80s at 7:00 a.m. for the start) and HUUUUMMMMIDDDD, so we knew that we were going to have to hydrate a lot.  It was the most painful run of my life; whereas I am usually able to zone out on long runs to the extent that it doesn't even feel like I'm doing the work, I felt every step, and boy were those steps painful.  My goal was to finish in 1:50 (1 hour, 50 minutes), and I got 1:47 (which was 9.5-10 minutes faster than my time last year, which I was very proud of!), and Dan's was to finish in under 1:30 (yeah, my guy is a speed demon!). 

When I reached the finish line, my first thought was that I needed to sit down...boy, was I exhausted.  Just kidding, my ACTUAL first thought after crossing the finish line and going through the receiving line, where bottles of Gatorade and water, wet towels, bananas, canned fruit, etc. were being thrust in my face, was that I wanted to find Dan.  The problem was, I couldn't find him.  I'm not going to go into my lengthy search process, but, nearly an hour later, with my truly amazing coworker, Beth, and her equally amazing husband, Bryan, by my side, I was told that Dan had been taken to the hospital to get fluids.  I lost it.  I was absolutely hysterical, and the walk to the car and subsequent ride to the hospital are a complete blur. My overwhelming feeling was that I wanted to be with him, but I had no idea what kind of condition he was in.

Dan suffered heatstroke (presumably at around mile 11 of the race) and a score of other complications directly resulting from the race.  As a result of rhabdomyolysis (which, by the end of the week, we affectionately called "the rhabdo"), a condition whereby muscle tissue is broken down and released into the bloodstream, the level of myoglobin in Dan's bloodstream was so high that it necessitated an 8-day hospital stay. It was a true rollercoaster of emotions, and every day brought both triumphs and challenges.

Sunday, the day of the race, was by far the most terrifying and hellacious day of my life.  There is no worse feeling than seeing the person you love in a hospital bed, not to mention in pain.  By the end of the day, it became more apparent that Dan was going to be okay, but the following week in the hospital was physically and mentally draining for both of us.  We were so lucky to have the love and support of so many friends and family members (Dan's parents both came down for part of the week, so we had ourselves a nice little party in the hotel room), and I can truly say that I would not have been able to hold it together without all of the heartfelt emails, texts and calls that I received.  Those messages helped me stay strong for Dan (which, if you know me and my tendency to cry at the drop of a hat, is counterintuitive for me).  In particular, I have to give a shoutout to Beth and Bryan, without whose kindness and selflessness I would not have made it through even that first day. 

To be perfectly honest, I wasn't really sure that I even wanted to say anything about last week on this blog, out of respect for Dan's privacy.  However, I wanted this to serve as a cautionary tale for those of you who are active (particularly those of you who run).  Heatstroke can happen to even the most experienced of athletes, so it is of the utmost importance that you stay hydrated and listen to your body, particularly when you are exercising on hot and humid days.  I would not wish what happened to Dan on anyone, and it was definitely a wake-up call for both of us.  We are so incredibly lucky that he is going to be just fine! 

I promise, I have an excuse...

Sorry for my very prolonged absence from the blogosphere.  Due to unforeseen circumstances, we ended up spending significantly longer in Virginia Beach than we had planned.  I really am not in a place where I want to talk about it at this point, but will start posting again when I'm ready.