West Virginia: Wild and Wonderful (and Open for Business)

At various points in recent history, the sub-text on the Welcome to West Virginia signs have read West Virginia: Open for Business, and West Virginia: Wild and Wonderful, with the latter being its most current version. Well, don't let the racy and oh-so-suggestive descriptions fool you, because, after my weekend in the Mountain State (which is actually a fitting name, despite the fact that many other states have lots of mountain ranges), I can tell you that it's not all that interesting (I am deeply sorry if anyone reading this blog is from, or, for some reason, has a strong attachment to, West Virginia).

Anyway, the occasion for the visit was my Grammy's 80th birthday, and my aunt had found the Canaan Valley Resort, conveniently located in the middle of nowhere (meaning that, obviously, there was no cell phone service).  Okay, I promise I'll stop whining now, because it was actually a very nice weekend.  True, the lack of cell service was annoying at best (I was luckily occasionally able to get the tiniest shred of a signal, somehow enough to send or receive a single text), but I got to unplug for the weekend and spend some much-needed downtime with my family.  My mom's sisters' families were there, as well as her brother, who traveled from Colorado from the occasion. Notably absent was Grampsy, who has been battling some back issues of late, and my aunt Susan, who stayed with him (and apparently was planning on teaching Grampsy, the most technologically-resistant man on the face of the earth, how to use an iPad, because he was maybe drugged up enough one day on pain meds to suggest that it might be a good idea for him to get one).

My parents and I got in on the later side on Friday night, and my dad, my uncle Tom and I left the cabin reasonably early on Saturday morning to get a head-start on our hike before the rains that were predicted passed through.  Well, we made it about six of the ten miles before it started raining (although the dreariness of the last four certainly made up for the great six-miler we had going).  Despite the rain, though, it was good exercise, and the terrain was really varied, which made for an interesting hike.  Sadly, we did not see any particularly interesting wildlife, but we did see a few cute pups, so that made up for it.  I think that actually may have been the longest hike I have ever been on, and I was EXHAUSTED by the time we got back to the car.  I can only think of a hanful of other times when I have been that happy to take a shower.

We all relaxed on Saturday afternoon and had a nice, home-cooked dinner that night.  It was nice to all sit around and catch up, because it had been several years since I had seen one of my mom's sisters and her two kids.  You could tell how happy Grammy was that we had all made the trip to be there for her birthday, and frankly, we were more than happy to do it.  It was wonderful to celebrate 80 years of a spectacular woman.

On Sunday morning, we headed out after breakfast at the lodge, and I spent the rest of the day lounging around at Dan's apartment.  It was one of those days where it was chilly and raining so heavily that we didn't feel the need to do anything.  We watched TV (the unfortunate elimination of the Pens from the NHL playoffs, the two episodes of Mad Men that we needed to get caught up on, movies that made our childhoods rush back like Air Bud and Free Willy 2), read our respective books, ate (the rain zapped our ability to walk to the Chinese place that is 10 minutes away, so we got delivery, and then ate leftover birthday cake from the weekend.  Sorry, I'm not sorry) and debriefed on our respective weekends.  It was the perfect lazy Sunday (part of me wishes I could have a Sunday like that every week, in which I can be totally slothlike).  You know you have a good thing going when you can be just as happy lounging around with someone for hours on end as you are planning some excursion together!

I hope all of you had better weather this weekend!!!  Hopefully those of you on the East Coast were able to do something fun indoors during the not-so-nice parts of it!

Book Review: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

I was in Kramerbooks late last week and was looking for some light reading.  I was perusing over by the cash register, where they tend to have some of their more humorous books, and my gaze fell on Mindy Kaling's new-ish book, "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (and Other Concerns)".  Now, I love The Office, so I was intrigued by this book by one of its actors (who also happens to be one of its writers and producers, which I was unaware of before).  Also, after having read Bossypants last summer, I am all about comediennes' books- chicks can be funny too!!!  The ultimate test is whether or not I laugh out loud while reading a random passage in the store, and this one passed the test.

I was somewhat disappointed by how the book started out, because it was not nearly as funny as I had thought it would be from that random burst of laughter in the bookstore. However, it got a LOT funnier, in my opinion, as the book went on. I think that one of the funniest parts of the book is actually the photo and accompanying caption on the back cover.  While little Mindy is adorable, she has nearly the same tragic bowl cut that I had as a child (being that my scalp was so sensitive that my mother felt that it would be a waste of her time and money to subject me to the torture of a trip to the beauty parlor, she cut my hair herself, and, not being a hairstylist by trade, the bowl cut/mullet was about all she knew how to do.  I don't blame her, but I cringe when I look at my childhood pictures.  It was as though I was in a childhood-long awkward phase, but I had the one-up on Mindy in that I did not also have the grandma-like bug-eyed glasses.). In this picture, she is wearing some tragic 80s catastrophe of an outfit, and also the cutest little grin on her face.  In case you can't read the caption, it says, "The author as a child star of the TLC series Androgynous Kids and Puppets, the less successful predecessor of Toddlers and Tiaras."  I can't stop laughing whenever I look at the picture and read that incredibly self-deprecating caption.  Another funny picture shows Mindy in an awful patterned sweater that left no doubt as to what decade she grew up in.  The caption for that photo: "Cosby sweater on, loving life."  It is something that I think all children of the '80s/early '90s can relate to.

Anyway, moving on from the decade-mockery (which I always appreciate), the book was hilarious.  Mindy tells us all about her trials and tribulations as a struggling actor/writer/sometimes nanny, gives us the dirt on her Office castmates (she confesses that Steve Carell is so uninvolved in office gossip that she suspects that he may be Perez Hilton), lists the qualities that she feels makes an amazing man, struggles with the definition of "hooking up," tries to block her friends from having one-night stands by pointing out all the potential scenarios in which they could be killed...and the list goes on.  The first of my favorite parts came when Mindy listed off what she predicts moviegoers will see in theaters soon (after emphasizing her surprise at how often movie execs predict what types of films audiences want to see).  Some of her funnier examples (pages 148-149 if you happen to have the book in front of you):

- Apples to Apples 4D (audiences are pummeled with apples at the end of the movie)

- Crest Whitestrips (she points out that “I have an almost completed outline for Crest Whitestrips")

- Streptococcus vs. Candidiasis (Strep Throat vs. Yeast Infection)

- Street Smart

- Street Stupid (Street Smart sequel)

- The Untitled Liam Neeson “You Took My Female Relative” Project

- The Untitled Jennifer Lopez Sonia Sotomayor Project

- Darling (Peter Pan from the point of view of the Darling family’s alcoholic dad)

- The Bear from Those Toilet Paper Ads Movie 3D

- I Ain’t Yo’ Wife!

- You Ain’t My Dad!

Could.not.stop.laughing.  Also, I would not be opposed to a movie starring the Charmin bear- that thing is freaking adorable! 

My other part of the book is at the very end, when she answers a few questions that readers may have had unanswered during earlier parts of the book.  One of them left me in stitches (again, if you have the book in front of you right now, p. 218):

"So, you never won any childhood spelling bees? I was under the impression this was a memoir of a spelling bee champ.

It is confusing, I know. Based on my ethnicity, the number of friends I had as a kid, my build, my eyesight, and my desire to please my parents, I should have been the reigning spelling bee champion from ages seven to fourteen. My best guess at an explanation is that my parents were worried that I would be just too good a speller and a potential kidnap prospect for anyone watching the Scripps National Spelling Bee on CSPAN-3 in the middle of the afternoon."

Need I say more?  Go buy the book, or better yet, borrow it from the library (joining the library has been on my list of things to do for a solid 8 months.  Maybe one of these days I will be in the general area of the library on a Saturday and will be compelled to join up). I think my next funny-woman book shall be one of Chelsea Handler's...

Whirlwind Welcome Weekend and Slothlike Sunday

Hi everyone!  I hope you had a wonderful weekend!

My weekend was ohsobusy, as usual, only, unlike most weekends, this one included one of our work events, the Welcome Weekend for admitted students.  These events occur twice a year and are always a bear, particularly because I do much of the prep work leading in to the event.  That meant that every day last week was filled with Welcome Weekend-related work and, thanks to some later nights out than I had planned, I was gased by the time we got to Friday morning.  I made the poor life choice to get up at 4:40 so I could be on the treadmill by 4:55, which, I know, sounds crazy, but, for those of you who know me, you'll recall that I go to great lengths to get my daily workout in.  Well, as a result (and a result of those late nights), the day was one long struggle to stay awake.  However, I knew that I had an evening with Dan to look forward to at the end of the long day, so that was the thing getting me through it all.  Luckily, everything went really well the entire weekend, so there was nothing to be concerned about!

Dan and I watched the Pens game, which I would normally have been completely interested in if I weren't already half-asleep.  So I fell asleep- literally, conked out- during the third period, and if he had kept all of the lights on, turned the sound on the TV up and cursed as the Flyers pulled away, I doubt I would have noticed. Apparently I also almost elbowed him in the head just as he was getting into bed and I made a move to turn over.  I do some pretty wacky things in my sleep, so I feel like I spend a lot of time apologizing as he recounts my latest antics haha. 

I woke up nice and early again (though not AS early) on Saturday for Day 2 of Welcome Weekend.  Again, everything went off without a hitch, and part of what I love so much about events is seeing everything you worked so hard on come together, especially in the context of our events, when we get to see admitted students interact and maybe start new friendships.  It really is so rewarding.  I was too exhuasted to deal with public transportation that day, so I cabbed home.  Luckily, Dan was golfing until late, so I got a little while to decompress before we met up with two of his Georgetown swimming friends.  Even though I felt like I was on the verge of passing out, I was somehow able to rally, and we actually didn't end up going to sleep until 3 or so (how I mustered enough adrenaline for that, I have no idea).  I think it's because I enjoy James and Lindsay's company so much.  It ended up just being the four of us towards the end of the night, which I loved, because they are such an awesome couple to double-date with, since I genuinely enjoy both of them and I think the four of us get along well.  I recalled later that I met them for the first time on the cooresponding weekend last year, because I remember thinking last year, 'Damn it, I'm exhausted, and now I have to go and be charming and meet Dan's friends.'  I guess they liked me enough!  Despite the fact that I started the evening off well by walking into a wall in the hallway of my own apartment building, resulting in laughter and mock-judgmental looks from Dan (okay, I also laughed at myself, since I was past the point of taking myself too seriously), I actually hung in there, and felt fine.  We tried out a place called Irish Whiskey on 19th Street, which was really cool and low-key, exactly what I needed that night.  As much as the dance music coming from Mad Hatter called to me as we walked by, I couldn't bring myself to dance.

On Sunday morning, we moved VERY slowly after our late night (also, another Kristen sleep adventure: I got a charlie horse in the middle of the night, but, not wanting to wake Dan up, and, in my state of exhaustion, not initially realizing what was happening, didn't make a noise or jump out of bed to get the cramp to stop), but then went for a run outside.  It was funny; before I even saw what Dan was wearing on our run, I instinctively reached for one of my We Are Georgetown shirts.  He emerged from the bathroom and said jokingly, "Oh no, I don't want to be one of THOSE couples [that dresses alike]," so, as a compromise, I reached for a pair of Georgetown shorts.  As usual, I struggled on the Mass Ave hill (I need to step it up and get good at hills, especially with our half marathon coming up soon- yes, you read that correctly, OUR!  Dan is going to run it with me, meaning I'll meet him at the finish line about a half-hour after he finishes haha), particularly since it was about 80 degrees.  We came home and watched TV and ate a nice coffee cake breakfast, and, after he left, I ignored my desire to go play outside in the beautiful weather and took a three hour nap.  My body was definitely trying to tell me something, and, unlike my typical ignoring of my body's signs of exhaustion, I just let myself sleep.  I of course couldn't fall asleep later, because I tried to go to bed about 2.5 hours after I woke up from my nap, but at least I kept my eyes closed so that I was "resting my eyes"?  Here's hoping for some more sleep this week!  And I have my grammy's 80th birthday shindig to look forward to this weekend in West Virginia, so I'm hoping for some nice, relaxing family time!

Can Men and Women Ever Be "Just Friends"?

This is one of my very favorite discussion topics, and one of the bloggers I follow, Joanna over at A Cup of Jo, just blogged about that very thing today, which made me want to blog about it.  I have had numerous conversations with my girlfriends about this same question, and I am always interested to hear what people, male and female, think.

To start things off, Dan shared this video with me a few months ago that, I think, gets at the crux of all of the confusion.  The filmmakers ask a group of college guys and college girls in Utah that same question, and the responses are very interesting.  All of the guys say, without hesitation that, if any of their female friends proposed hooking up, they would.  The women interviewed in the film initially all said that yes, guys and girls can be "just friends" without sexual tension.  However, when probed a little further and asked whether they thought any of their guy friends had feelings for them or would hook up with them if the possibility presented itself, these ladies sang an entirely different tune and admitted that yes, they would.

So does that mean that Billy Crystal was right in When Harry Met Sally?  Meg Ryan insisted that men and women could be "just friends," but her at-first contentious relationship with Harry blooms, over several years, into a full-fledged romance.  It seems as though the world is telling us something.  Obviously, this might change if one or both parties is in a relationship or married, meaning that those lustful feelings might morph into just a general fondness for another person, but if both parties are single, watch out!!  A friend of mine listed off her guy friends who she grew up with, saying why they were just friends.  Then, I had to play devil's advocate and but in.  "Hold on, didn't X kiss you, however unwilling a participant you may have been?  Didn't Y ask you out in middle school?  And you don't think Z has ever had feelings for you, even if he never acted on them?".  And there we go.  Going through my own list of guy friends, I would say that there are only a few who I have never had some sort of feelings for or who have never had any sort of feelings for me.

However, is it that cut and dry?  I would love to hear what all of you think!

Easter!

Oh boy, I think that was the most relaxing weekend I have had in a LONGGGG time.  I had the day off on Friday (yay for working for a Catholic institution and getting Good Friday off!), which meant that I got to start the weekend out early with pizza and the Masters on Thursday with Dan.  So. Relaxing.

I metroed home on Friday morning when Dan left for work (at about 6:30), and was able to fit in a run, 2 loads of laundry, cleaning the apartment and packing for the weekend before meeting Lauren for lunch at 2 Amys.  I was feeling pretty good about my productivity, especially since I knew I would neither want to do laundry nor clean the apartment when I got home on Sunday night.  I had decided to spend the weekend at my parents' house, just for a change of scenery.

After Lauren and I gobbled down our favorite pizza, we saw the movie Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, which, despite its title, was actually a fabulous movie.  Afterward, we briefly contemplated running in to the showing of Titanic in 3D, but, good girls that we are, refrained (maybe it was just my group of friends, but we never snuck in to multiple movies when we were younger).  Afterward, we did some nice window shopping, and then we parted ways so that I could meet up with my family and some family friends for dinner at Sequoia on the Waterfront.  It was actually a surprisingly good time (I had been unsure, going into the dinner, of how well the groups were going to mesh), so it was nice to have that good company to start off the weekend.

I started off Saturday morning with my best outdoor run of the season so far.  My previous outdoor runs have all been with Dan, and, perhaps due to the hilliness and my allergies/asthma going crazy, I have spent part of each run in the midst of an asthma attack and completely miserable.  However, my runs outdoors on both Saturday and Sunday were fantastic, so those definitely started my days off right!  Afterward, my dad and I went out to breakfast and got some hearty, tasty oatmeal-wheat germ pancakes.  Then, I made my beloved Cookie Dough Cupcakes (seriously, Kate, thank you so much for passing this recipe along, because it is one of my favorite ones to make, however sparingly I do so!!!) to serve at Easter lunch on Sunday.  After dinner, we headed to Easter vigil Mass...and did not emerge until 2 1/2 HOURS LATER.  Seriously, those were the most miserable 2 1/2 hours of my entire life, and I was FUMING (as was my mom).  The Mass was unnecessarily long, and I was shooting death glares at the cantor as she sang the third of seventh readings...seriously, not funny.  My mom said the next morning that she had been so "distraught" (her word, not mine haha) after Mass that she had forgotten to make her special holiday breakfast, which needs to rise overnight.  Oh well, I guess I wasn't really planning on doing anything after Mass anyway.

After my run on Sunday, I helped my mom get the mountains of food ready before two of my friends and Tim and two of his friends arrived for lunch.  Everything was delicious, and by the time that Molly, Lauren and I arrived back at our apartment last night, we were definitely crashing big-time after our sugar high.  Yeah, I guess I jumped back in to eating sugar a little too eagerly (although the two of them hadn't given up sweets for Lent and ate just as much, so maybe I shouldn't feel so bad?  That's what I'll tell myself haha).  We ended Easter weekend by watching some episodes of Mad Men in sweats, and believe me, it was glorious.

Me, Lauren and Molly down by the Potomac (and looking very springlike!)

Tim, Max and Mike relaxing after their catch

The reason for the sugar high?  Bunny cake, cookie dough cupcakes and chocolate

Time and time again, I am in awe of my parents, particularly how generous they are about opening their home to Tim, myself, and our friends and loved ones.  I never take for granted how lucky I am to have my parents just a short Metro ride away, and the fact that they are so open to making my friends and Dan a part of their lives means more to me than they will ever know.  I truly am the luckiest girl in the world :)

Also, here is a picture of Molly and I with our creations from the painting happy hour we went to last week!

Friday Afternoon Around the Horn

I tend to post a lot of NYT articles to my blog.  What can I say, I enjoy The Times?

The first article that I found noteworthy was this one, in which Rick Santorum equated Mitt Romney with Barack Obama in terms of his anti-gun views.  Really, Rick, you are doing a fabulous job in ensuring that I never dream of voting for you.  Have you been watching the news lately?  Have you seen just a handful of the devastating tragedies that lax gun laws have caused?  To name a few off the top of my head, does Trayvon Martin's name ring a bell?  George Zimmerman should not have been allowed to own a gun, period.  How about the former student of Oikos University, who killed, in a calculated manner, a number of students at the school?  Yeah, maybe he shouldn't have been allowed near a gun either.  Obama, in a speech four years ago in Pennsylvania, "had said it was 'not surprising' that their residents 'get bitter [due to the declining economy and poverty in small-town America], they cling to guns or religion'".  I think our president is on to something.  I certainly don't agree with everything that he says, but I think that both guns and religion are both used as weapons, both literally and figuratively.  Giving people access to guns scares me, because, like George Zimmerman and One L. Goh, so many people abuse their constitutional right to own a weapon.  I'm not saying that all gun-toting Americans abuse those privileges, because those are cases that are sensationalized and blown out of proportion by the media, but I don't think I want to leave that to chance.

Another way in which I hope the Republican Party has put its foot in its mouth: American women (myself included!) are starting to get angry about how so many Republican lawmakers and conservative institutions (Catholic Church) and organizations (Susan G. Komen, led by a right-to-lifer) are waging a culture war on women's health (more specifically, women's reproductive health). I really loved the quote by Stephanie Schriock, the president of Emily's list, who said: “What we are committed to doing at Emily’s List is drive a political movement to get these Republican men out of office. What’s going on in the Republican Party is that they are being hijacked by an extremely conservative faction of the party, and the entire party has taken up the right-wing social agenda to prevent women from having all the choices they need in their lives to be successful.” Her organization is aimed at electing more pro-choice women to office (you can put the emphasis on pro-choice or on women, but both are very noble goals).  And yes, I am not saying that there are not far left-wing liberals who push their own agenda in Washington, but the fact that moderate and liberal women are so grossly underrepresented in positions of power is truly saddening.  In that sense, Decision 2012 is a very exciting time for American women, because enough of us are angry that we are willing to take a stand and stick up for ourselves.  I think that an organization like Emily's list is so invaluable, and I will definitely consider becoming a part of it!!

That's all I have time for...off for a long weekend of Easter revelry with family and friends.  Only a few more days until I am reminded of what sweets taste like :)

A Pretty Perfect Weekend

This weekend turned out to be a busy one, but, if this makes any sense, it felt relaxing at the same time!  My boss let us leave work ealry on Friday (yay!) and I used that extra time to peruse the book selection at Kramer's before meeting up with my dear friend/former roommate Colleen for a quick happy hour.  It was so nice to catch up with her, particularly since she had just returned from a trip to the West Coast, and I always enjoy the time I get to spend with her.  After that, I met Dan at home and we went to a Chicago-style pizza place (YUM) and then, deciding that we didn't want to spend the money to go and see 21 Jump Street, we finished watching Invictus, which we had started the night before (it was a great movie, for those of you who haven't seen it!).

On Saturday morning, we went on a nice little run together, only part of which I literally spent gasping for air.  My asthma has definitely been acting up when I have tried to run outside, particularly when running hills, which is frustrating because, while I am completely capable physically of running hills, I must not be breathing correctly when I do so, because it almost always ends in an asthma attack.  Dan was really concerned towards the end of the hill (we ran down Wisconsin and then down and back up Mass, which, for those of you who aren't aware, is a pretty steep hill).  Anyway, we rewarded ourselves after our 6-mile run with some Dynk's Pancakes.  These are a family recipe, named after the family friend who used to make them for us up at the Lake every year, and they are the most delicious Swedish pancakes (they very closely resemble crepes) on the planet, especially with some maple syrup and berries.  We plunked down on the couch in an exhuasted heap while we ate and put a good dent in The Godfather II (which, I have to admit, I like, to Dan's utter astonishment).

On Saturday night, we trekked out to Virginia to celebrate my friend Liz's birthday.  Her roommate threw her a surprise fondue (YUM) birthday party, followed by karaoke in Dupont.  Being that it is still Lent (only a few more days!!!), I had to abstain from the chocolate fondue, but the cheese fondue was delicious!  Liz was very surprised, and it was a good group of people as well.  I was not crazy about the karaoke place (it was small, which allowed us more mic time, but you couldn't really hear the music, or the singers), but it was still a nice time out with friends.

 Belting it out for the birthday girl

 Ann serenades Liz

Loves

On Sunday morning, my dad and I went for a hike on the Billy Goat Trail at Great Falls (MD), and boy, what a fun hike!  There was definitely some good up-and-down, what with all of the rocks, and there was a short portion of the hike when we were climbing up to a cliff.  I thought I would be terrified, but it was actually so much fun!  There were also blue bells for as far as your eye could see, and getting to see the falls at the end made the hike really worth it.  And, as always, it was nice to have some good daddy-daughter time.  We both marveled at the fact that such beautiful scenery and such a nice hike are available to us not far outside the city. 

The rest of my day was a good mix of productivity/laziness.  I went to Palm Sunday Mass before returning home to go to the grocery store and run to CVS.  Then, since it was such a nice day, I decided to go for a run outside, even though I was exhausted.  After that, I dove under my covers and watched Under the Tuscan Sun, which I had had a strange urge to watch all of last week.  Then, I made myself a nice dinner and Skyped with Kristin before hitting the sack early to re-set for this week.

I have lots of fun things to look forward to this week: I am anticipating that Dan and I will watch the National Championship game (men's basketball), I am going to a Red Sox game with my family tomorrow at Nats Stadium, Molly and I are doing a painting happy hour on Wednesday, and then I get Friday off for Good Friday!  Gotta love working for a Catholic school!  We are hanging around here for Easter, so I am looking forward to spending some quality time with friends and family.  I hope everyone had a lovely weekend!!