Swimsuit shopping is not for the faint of heart

I had some spare time this afternoon so I went swimsuit shopping to find something for the beach trip next weekend.  At Target, every piece was hung on the wrong size hanger, so when I thought I was getting a Medium, I’d get to the dressing room and find out it was a Large and vice versa.  Even after 3 trips back and forth and trying on at least 10 pairs, I never did find the style I wanted in the size I needed, so I bought a $1 frisbee instead and went next door to Old Navy.  There, I found a cute simple brown one that works, but you know, I still had to shop around for a bit and see what my other options were.

Macy’s was nearby and well, I should never have even gone in the door.  The saleslady must hate me because I tried on so many suits and just kept taking more and more to the dressing room!  I actually found 3 or 4 that I really liked, but naturally, the better they looked on me, the more they cost.  Why is that?  It’s a tiny piece of fabric and it costs an arm and a leg.  I broke down and bought one, but I’ll be hitting up Kohl’s and another Target tomorrow to try my luck at something a little more affordable.  It’s so unfair, we women go through all this and the guys?  They just throw on a pair of shorts.

Dreaming Big

I want to do the NOLS Outdoor Educator Semester.  And I’m mostly not kidding.

Anyone want to give me about $15,000?

Communion Tray Etiquette from Stuff Christians Like

I just discovered this site last night and today’s post cracked me up!

Communion Tray Etiquette
I grew up taking communion this way, but these days it’s mostly by intinction and I think this guy should write a whole separate post on intinction ettiquite.

Friends and Stars

It’s 1:25 am.  I just spent the last hour and a half sitting on the sidewalk with a friend and neighbor, finishing off a bottle of wine and talking about things that just needed to be talked about.  It’s moments like these that make me so very grateful for the place I live and the friends I have.  It’s moments like these that also give me a lot to think about as I reflect on life and look towards the future.

In other news, there are movie stars all around us tonight.  Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, and Kathy Bates are filming a movie in the area and have trailers in the parking lot across the street.  Ashton Kutcher showed up at Tin Lizzie’s tonight, less than a mile up the road.  I’ve been trying to figure out how I can meet one of them and think I might need to take a walk in the morning that just happens to wander through the church parking lot across the street.

under construction

I’m also working on a bit of a blog renovation. A little cleaning up here and there, some updating around the corners.  Getting pictures current and listing the blogs I actually read (if you want yours listed and don’t see it there to the right, just let me know in a comment).  Please pardon the progress!

Tweet Tweet

I have dived (dove? diven?) into the realm of Twitter over the last couple of days and the only thing it’s gotten me is a annoying ability to think in status update sentences.  Seriously, every five minutes I craft some short, witty (or not) little tidbit of update and think,  “Oh!  I should post that!  But no, that would just be annoying since I just posted 2 mintues ago and how many is too many?  I want people to follow me so I have to be interesting.  Or maybe this should go on Facebook or should I write a blog entry?  I wonder if there is Twitter etiquette . . .”  Welcome to my brain – overflowing with stuff, but constantly worried that I’m boring or offending people or coming across as (heaven forbid) immature.

I even considered doing an entire blog post with nothing but 140 characters or less sentences, but I’ve already forgotten them all, so obviously they weren’t that good.  Something about wanting to go to the pool but it’s still closed, trying the Stair Master at the gym, eating healthy, hearing the same sermon twice, and so on.

At any rate, Twitter seems like an interesting idea, I’ve just got to figure it out and find all my friends on it.  I did learn that Fat Tire is coming to Atlanta on May 11, which is just fabulous news, and I probably would have learned well after the fact if it weren’t for the post, (excuse me, TWEET), by Atlanta Beer Guide.  And now I can call a few places and pick some up on May 11 and re-live “choir practice” at The James.  Throw in a pitcher or two of Shiner, a jukebox with the same tired songs, a pool table, and a few ghosts, and it’s just like HOmE.  Too bad all that’s gone now, to make way for something “classy.”  Whatever, we have the memories.

I just tweeted an entire recipe in 138 characters.  I may be onto something here.

Do you tweet?  Join me!  elizabeth_cw

NYC: Day 5

(also written at the airport)

Morning got here waaaaay to quickly today.  After hitting snooze a few times, I got up around 9, planned my day, packed, and headed out.  Caroline was going to meet me later to walk around Union Square.  My original plan had been to go to MOMA, but then I learned about the ticket lottery for Wicked matinee tickets and, well, I had to try!  You show up at the theater at 11:30 and write your name on a card.  At 12:00, they draw the cards and sell all of the extra seats for the 2:00 show for $26.50.  There were easily a couple hundred people there, but somebody had to win them, right?  I had to go on a mad hunt for an ATM just in case I was drawn, because they only take cash for the tickets.  Sadly my name didn’t get drawn, but the people who did were very excited and I’m glad they had the chance to see the show.

I called Caroline to see how she was feeling and she wasn’t doing so well, so I was on my own for the day.  Instead of going to MOMA, I walked up to Central Park and walked through it up to 81st to the Natural History Museum.  There were so many people out today!  It was a gorgeous day – clear skies, sunny, just warm enough to not need my coat.  People were out running, riding bikes, playing softball, kids were scrambling over the rocks and playing in the playgrounds, taking carriage rides, just enjoying being outdoors!  The museum was packed too, but still enjoyable.  There is so much to see there and I only had a couple of hours, so I decided to see some of the North American mammals, the outer space area, the under water room (with the giant blue whale), and the dinosaurs.

Then I took the subway (I was getting pretty good at it!) to  Union Square to check out the farmers market.  Lots of fruits and vegetables, honey, jams, flowers, apple cider, cheeses, meat, eggs, and a few performers.  I bought a little jar of honey from bees raised on Manhattan rooftops, a bag of apple oatmeal cookies, and a cup of hot apple cider before getting back on the train for Brooklyn.  (Love the N express train!)  Poor Caroline still wasn’t feeling well, so we visited for a little while and I tried of the Brooklyn IPA’s I’d bought the other day, then Jeremy (her fiancé) drove me to the airport.

It didn’t take very long to get here and security went quickly, so I found myself with over 2 hours to kill!  Walked around, bought Son Of A Witch (the sequel to Wicked), got a bagle and a drink, and here I am!  It’s nice to sit, actually, my feet are killing me from so much walking the last 5 days.  It’s been such a fun trip!  2 cities, 2 Broadway shows, good food, great museums, a fun walkable city, and a good friend to top it all off. ☺

(flight was delayed an hour, then we sat in a line of 20 planes to take off, then there was a lot of turbulance landing, then they didn’t have the jetway out for our plane, then the trains weren’t running, but thank goodness for brother James who came to pick me up at 1am!)

NYC: Day 4

(Written at the airport while waiting for my delayed flight)

Folks, I’m tired!  Day 4 of my trip started with a nice drive down to Philadelphia.  I got to cross the Verrazano Bridge, see the fabulous Staten Island, wave to New Jersey, and experienced various turnpikes and toll roads.  (I will never complain about GA-400!)  All in all, it wasn’t a bad drive, and it was nice to see something outside of New York.  I can also now check Pennsylvania off my list of states.

We went into City Center (they don’t call it Downtown) to pick up some tickets for the Cezanne exhibit very generously shared by one of the Limmud volunteers I met last weekend.  Then we headed out towards the Penn campus, where Caroline showed me where she used to live and we went to lunch at a Thai restaurant.  I was amazed at all of the ethnic restaurants in Philly – Thai, Indian, Senegalese, Morrocan, Cuban, French, and not just one of each, but several!  We then walked through campus and met her friend Laura, grabbed some coffee, and wandered around EMS (like REI).

Next was the Philadelphia Museum of Art for the Cezanne & Beyond exhibit.  It had a lot of Cezanne works and works by other artists who had been directly influenced by him.  It was really interesting to see how the other artists had taken some of Cezanne’s concepts and made them their own.  I think my favorite was one by Elsworth Kelly, a contemporary artist who saw a lake in one of Cezanne’s paintings and created a huge canvas the same shape as the lake, painted blue.  Really simple, and usually I don’t like the solid color canvases that are supposed to be art, but his explanation of the painting clicked with me and I really liked it.

The museum was open late last night, for a Friday night jazz event, so we had time to explore some other exhibits and walk around outside before leaving.  Oh and the shop was having a 50% off sale, so I bought some recycled glass earrings and cute tulip candle holders.

We drove through Old City (definitely need to go back and do all the historical tourist stuff), then met a couple of Caroline’s friends for dinner at the Continental.  I had a fantastic cocktail of champagne, ginger ale, and cucumber, and delicious barbeque chicken quesadillas.  We went out to a bar afterwards and I really just started feeling tired.  It was a slightly younger crowd, very loud and crowded, and I think I realized once and for all that I’m over that whole scene.  It may have been fun in college, but trying to yell conversations while drinking mediocre beer and getting slammed into every 10 seconds (and someone even threw up right next to us and it got on Caroline!) is just not my idea of a good time anymore.  Yep, I’m officially old and boring.

After getting a little turned around on the drive back, we headed back to NYC and got there around 3am.  Yikes!  I showered so that I could get up and get going in the morning, then went to bed.

NYC: Day 3

I’m tired.  Got in late last night and spent a long time reading about Wicked online and trying to find good YouTube videos of behind the scenes and bloopers and even investigating Frank L Baum’s other Oz books.

This morning I slept in a little, then we tried to figure what to do for the day.  We checked out day-of Broadway tickets online and found a really good deal for Avenue Q, probably not the highest on my list, but for the good price, I’d try something new.  Caroline needed to get some school work done, so I took the train to Battery Park and then the ferry to Ellis Island.  It was foggy and misty and gross out, but still pretty cool to see the Statue of Liberty (from the boat, it cost extra to actually go in the monument).  Next stop was Ellis Island, where I could have spent all day, there was so much information!  I watched a documentary instead of taking a tour, then wandered around for a couple of hours.  It was all pretty fascinating, but I didn’t feel a real personal connection to the place.  As far as I know, my family doesn’t have anyone who came through Ellis Island.  Maybe I should go to Salem and find my witch ancestor’s house.

After a pretzel on the ferry and a short train ride, I met Caroline on Canal Street to wander around Chinatown.  That was interesting, to say the least!  I’m not good at the whole haggling thing, and these random ladies walking up and whispering the names of purse designers, trying to lure us into their secret purse shops just kinda weirded me out.  With some help from Caroline though, I walked away with 2 scarves and a necklace for $18.  We then headed over to Serendipity (featured in the film Serendipity with John Cusack – love him!) for soup and the biggest ice cream sundaes I’ve ever seen.  I had a frozen peanut butter hot chocolate and was only able to drink a third of it.

We stopped by Dylan’s Candy Bar, but were so full that we didn’t buy anything, then took the train down to Broadway for Avenue Q.  This was a totally different experience from Wicked!  For one thing, I didn’t know anything about the show except that it contained adult content.  The theater was a lot smaller and we were sitting on the center aisle, and the budget was obviously more limited with simpler sets and basically no costumes.  The show was hilarious though, and I’m so glad we went!  As touristy as it is, Broadway is just so exciting at night and I love being there.  Oh, and the theater was right next door to the hotel mom and I stayed at a few years ago!

The trip back was really fast, as we got on an express train.  Wish I could have figured that out on Wednesday night.  Now it’s Day 4 and we’re off to Philadelphia for the day!

NYC: Day 2

Yesterday started with a hunt for the Lebanese pastry Knefe (or however you want to spell it).  We’d passed a Lebanese bakery a few blocks from Caroline’s apartment the day before, and I knew they’d have it.  Well, I got to the bakery and it was closed!  So I kept walking . . . and walking . . . and walking.  I finally gave up and went over a block and started walking back.  Then, at 86th and 3rd, there it was – a Lebanese bakery.  Finally!  But they were out of knefe.  Of course.  It wasn’t a complete waste though, because I got some zaatar (like pita bread with lots of spices) and enjoyed that for breakfast.

Caroline was not feeling well, so after some careful planning, I ventured out on my own with plans to go to the Met and then meet her later at MOMA.  However, I found myself at the Grand Central Station stop and decided to get off there, just to see it.  I’m so glad I did!  It was pretty impressive and I just walked around and took a few pictures.  Then I got back on the train to head toward the museum, but got sidetracked again and got off at 59th to take the tram across the river to Roosevelt Island.  The tram ride was unique, but the island wasn’t much to speak of.  It was quiet and peaceful and green, but there wasn’t really anything to do there but look at apartment buildings and hospitals and different views of the city.  After heading back, I came across a Home Depot and went in, just to see what a Home Depot in the middle of New York City looks like!  Escalators, 3 floors, cramped, but otherwise not much different from your typical HD store.

So the Met.  I finally got up there and found Caroline and we went to a deli for lunch nearby.  I had a delicious chicken pesto mozzarella panini.  Yum!  By the time we got back to the Met, it was mid-afternoon and I knew it would take a lot more time that we had to really enjoy the museum, so once again, plans were changed! (I love being able to do that) We walked down Madison Ave, going into stores and looking at really expensive clothes that were supposedly on sale (I did buy something from Banana Republic though) and stopped for coffee along the way.  I think we walked from 82nd down to 47th.  Long walk, but fun!

We parted ways near Rockefeller Center and she headed home while I went to meet Steven from Atlanta for dinner.  We found this almost literal hole in the wall Italian place that was pretty good and affordable in Hell’s Kitchen.  Most of the places around there were obviously catering to the pre-theater crowd and were overpriced and had long waits, but our place felt a little more laid back and less pretentious, if you will.  And it was fun to meet up with an Atlanta friend in New York!

As great as the day was, the highlight was yet to come . . . Wicked! I paid good money to go to the show and had an amazing seat, about 15 rows back, right smack in the center.  Pretty much at eye-level with the actors, which was kind of fun.  I was so excited!  I just finished the book on the plane here, so it was very fresh in my mind.  I studied the map on the curtain, recognizing each of the areas of Oz and waited anxiously for the show to start.

It was different.  Completely different.  Hardly anything like the book.  I was so frustrated.  I kept thinking to myself, “No!  That’s not how it happened, it happened like this!  And you left this out and that out and oh my gosh, that character was not like that in the book and you made that other character a teeny tiny minor role when he’s huge in the book and where is everyone?!  What have you done?!”  I, quite honestly, was disappointed.  I spent the entire first act picking the show apart, trying to force myself to enjoy it.

Intermission.  I’d overheard the lady next to me saying she’d read the book, so I asked her what she thought of the show so far.  She said she’d read it so long ago that she didn’t remember the details.  Oh well.  I desperately wanted to talk to someone who was feeling like me, but everyone around me was gushing about how glorious it all was.

Second Act.  By this point, I had a better idea of what to expect.  I gave myself a good talking to and pushed aside my ideas from the book so that I could enjoy the show for the show.  And you know what?   It kinda worked.  It was truly a spectacular show and I even liked the ending better than the one in the book.  After all the bows, when the actors come out and ask for donations to Broadway Cares, I felt that high come back, seeing really just how passionate all the actors are about their work and helping others and grinning from ear to ear, surely exhausted.  I even checked on a behind the scenes tour they were doing for a donation, but it was $500   Yeah, that’s not going to happen.

As soon as I got back to Caroline’s (after a looooong subway ride home, but that’s another story), I downloaded the soundtrack and have been listening to it ever since.  I think I left the theater last night a little disappointed, feeling a little let down and even betrayed, but the more I listen to the music and it gets stuck in my head, the more I recognize what an amazing show I saw . . . and I want to see it again!

I think in another life, I want to be a Broadway star, singing at the top of my lungs, dancing, and flying through the air.

NYC Day 1

Greetings from Brooklyn!  I’m feeling very New York this morning, having woken up in a room painted the same color purple as the Friends’ living room, walked down the street to pick up some breakfast, not saying hello or smiling at people, and crossing the street even when the red hand was up (as long as there was no traffic coming).  I even had a black coat and a scarf.  Yep, I’m practically a native

My flight in yesterday was uneventful save for almost missing it!  MARTA kept stopping between stations on the way to the airport and I got to the gate just as they were making the final boarding call.  (Yeah, I’ll blame MARTA, not the fact that I was 20 minutes late getting out the door.)  I was running on about 4 hours of sleep, so I finished reading Wicked, then slept the rest of the flight.  Caroline met me at baggage claim (there were pigeons IN the airport, pooping on the carpet, yuck!), and we made the trek from JFK to Bay Ridge in Brooklyn.  She took me on a driving tour of the area, then we stopped at the grocery store, figuring we should take advantage of having the car to put groceries in.  I’m guessing we won’t even touch the car again while I’m here.

After schlepping my luggage and groceries a few blocks and up 3 flights of stairs, I was greeted by a HUGE apartment, and not just by NY standards.  It’s definitely bigger than my apartments in downtown Athens and in Knoxville.  Separate kitchen, a long hallway, living room, 2 bedrooms, a bathroom that’s twice the size of my Roswell Court bathroom, and lots of closets.  Not at all what I think of when I picture your typical NY apartment.  I was exhausted, so we ate lunch and I took a nap, then had some coffee and planned the rest of the evening.

We considered going to a hockey game at Madison Square Garden, which would have been amazing, but not for the price.  Instead we took the subway to Manhattan and met Jeremy, Caroline’s fiance, and crossed the Brooklyn Bridge.  We only went about halfway across, because it was cold and windy, but what a great view of the skyline, and the bridge itself is pretty impressive.  Then we headed back over to Brooklyn and went to Gino’s for Italian, and capped off the evening with that classic film, Baby Mama.

And that’s day 1!  Today was Lebanese zaatar for breakfast and there will be a trip to MOMA, Central Park, Hell’s Kitchen, and WICKED!!!