Nightmare

Last night, I had what was one of the worst dreams of my life. I've had dreams where my parents die or where my dad was cheating on my mom. I've had dreams where my friends and family are upset, or that someone is harassing me. But last night, my dream played out more like a horror movie than a personal drama. It really freaked me out!!

MJ and I were trying to get to Philly to meet up with The Rat Pack. (This is the same group of 4 guys we hung out with on last year's NYC/Vermont trip. And we are trying to plan a trip to Philly next month, since two of The Rat Pack members live in Philly. So I'm assuming this is what my subconscious was thinking about when I had this dream.)

In the dream, for some reason, MJ and I didn't have access to our credit cards. We were stuck with just whatever cash we had on us. And it made more financial sense for us to take a Greyhound bus to Philly, rather than drive in MJ's car. So we got on the bus, where we were joined by KT and a couple members of The Rat Pack. (This makes no sense, because MJ and I are the only ones who do not live in New England, but what do you expect? This is a dream, after all.)

By the time the bus stops, we are exhausted. I don't know where we are, but it is a city of some kind. We don't go to a hotel. Instead, we go to a boarding house because it was cheaper. (Do boarding houses even exist anymore??) It may have been a hostel....I can't remember. We are still limited to whatever cash we have, at this point, so I think we were looking for somewhere to crash so we could figure out how to get to Philly the next day.

This hostel/boarding house was an old, early 20th century home. It was a late Victorian style, so it had a big front porch, huge front staircase, wide hallways, tall ceilings, big windows and large rooms. The boarding house was owned and operated by an elderly couple who creeped me out. Of course, even more disturbing, no one else thought they were creepy.

So we are all so broke that we can only afford to rent one very large bedroom upstairs. There are at least 5 of us. We take our suitcases up the big, main staircase to go find our room. I notice that the wallpaper in the house looks to be original, because it is water-damaged, faded and peeling. In fact, everything in the house looked original, from the carpet to the furniture to the doorknobs. Everything was a sort of beige or rose color. With dark wood paneling. It was kind of creepy. And quiet. Very, very quiet.

At the top of the staircase, there is a big hallway. Our room is at the end of the hall. Here's the really creepy part: on the floor of the hallway, in front of each closed bedroom door, there was a baby doll head. Each one had a different facial expression, and they all faced the door nearest to them. Some dolls were smiling, others were angry or terrified. They were all creepy. I mean, someone had obviously ripped the heads off of baby dolls and set them down like this in the hallway! And who's ever heard of a baby doll with angry or scared facial expressions???! I told my friends this place was creepy and I didn't want to stay. They thought I was nuts.

Again, I am the only person who seemed to have a problem with the creepiness. Great.

Our room had several beds, and everyone was so tired that they went to bed immediately. They didn't brush their teeth or even get into pajamas. They just crashed. Meanwhile, I cannot sleep for shit because I'm still thinking about the creepy baby heads in the hallway.

To make it even spookier, we are the only tenants in the place. It's eerily quiet and empty. Just us and the baby doll heads.

When we paid for our room, I had noticed there was a sign by the desk saying that meals were served at certain times. So I decided that I would go back down to the desk to see if it was time to eat yet. I couldn't bear to be near those baby heads anymore. I woke up my friend to tell him where I was going, tip-toed down the hallway, trying not to touch the baby doll heads (which moved on their own to turn and look at me with their varying facial expressions as I passed by!!!).

I made my way to the front desk downstairs, and asked if dinner was served yet. The wife told me that there was still an hour before it would be served. So I decided to make my way back upstairs to try and get my friends to leave this creepy place.

Then, something-- I can't remember what, maybe it was a little voice in my head-- tells me what is going on: the husband and wife who run the place are actually serial killers who are trying to make us their next victims!!!! I am totally freaked out by this realization, obviously. Then the little voice in my head tells me that depending on the expression of your room's baby doll head, you will know if the elderly couple likes you enough to let you live.

Yeah. At this point, even my dream self is like, "Dude, this is f**ked up. Get the hell outta here!!"

So now I need to know which expression our room's baby doll head has. I am back upstairs, walking slowly down the hallway. I know which rooms have dead bodies in them, because the baby doll heads have angry or scared looks on their faces. And of course, the baby doll heads are watching me again. Which is just freaking fantastic.

Sure enough, our room now has its own baby doll head. It had appeared while I had been downstairs!!! I didn't look at its expression -- at this point, I didn't care. We were all checking out right now, no questions asked. I wake everyone up and freak them out enough (I believe I was crying and screaming) to convince them that we need to leave -- NOW. I think they only agreed so that I would shut up and they could finally get some sleep!

We pack up all our stuff and head back down the main staircase. As we are waiting at the bottom of the stairs to check out (why we are taking the time to do this, I don't know), the old man flies down the stairs, holding a knife (or maybe it was a gun?) , trying to stop us from leaving, even if it means he has to kill us!!! We all scream and try to escape. The next thing I know, a large piece of wood falls off of the upstairs banister and impales the old man before he can hurt us! WHAM! It goes right through his torso, killing him instantly.

We must have either ignored or fought off the old lady, because I remember she was protesting our escape, too. We ran out of the house and down the street. That's when I realized we had been in Philly the whole time.

Ugh. No more Jersey Mike's before bedtime.

Bits/Pieces

Friday night was SO much fun! MJ & VW ended up being Britney Spears (complete with Chee-tos, pregnant tummy and much-dropped baby) and K-Fed (I swear, the guy is a dead ringer for K-Fed!). CN looked great in his Super Troopers costume. Vermont, our Rat Pack friend who happened to be in town, went as a character from Major League (please don't ask me who!). His roommate was a hunter and wore camouflage. The Runner was the Burger King and his friend (girlfriend?) was Kendra Wilkinson, one of the Girls Next Door. KT couldn't go because she was sick.

When we got to the party, there were lots of snacks and a keg. There were about 50 people there, I'd say, so it was a good crowd. Here were some of the costumes:

Little Red Riding Hood & Wolf (a couple -- cute idea, huh?)
Batman, Robin and the Joker (three friends)
Roman soldiers (complete with fake, bloody wounds)
a fairy (who smoked like a chimney, which was funny to me)
Jessica Rabbit
a witch
various X-Men characters
Indian princess (that was the hostess)
Dr. Seymour Bush (a "gynecologist" -- get it?)
cowboys/cowgirls
another Burger King guy
a female gangster
a flapper
Catholic school girl & guy (that was E & B)
Cleopatra
Coach Steve Spurrier
Dog, the Bounty Hunter
Borat

......and finally.........drumroll, please........the winner of the costume contest was a guy who dressed as this guy:

And from the moment he walked in, everyone knew he would win. The costume was just too funny. He was so tall he had to keep ducking in all the doorways.

Despite all of my Paris Hilton accessories, no one knew who the hell I was. Probably because I don't really look like her, even with a blond wig on. Oh well, it was still fun. MJ and I got into a Britney/Paris catfight and VW and CN tried to break it up. We got it on film for posterity's sake, you know. Then she and I made up and were friends.......until we got into another mock cat fight, also on film. It was fun. CN kept arresting everyone.

MJ's pregnant Britney belly was so well-done, some other girls at the party thought she was really pregnant, and when they saw MJ smoking and drinking, they were so offended, they went inside and talked smack! It wasn't until late in the party that they realized she just had a pillow taped to her tummy, so they ran out to tell us what they had thought, and we all had a good laugh.

CN was quite the little social butterfly that night, and I hardly got to talk to him! He was so busy talking to VW, Vermont, Vermont's roommate and The Runner, I didn't even realize he was getting trashed! By the time we left, he was slurring his words. He cracked me up the whole way home.

Somehow, we lost track of Vermont. Rumors circulated of he and Butter having hooked up (which bothered E, because she and Country Boy are on-again, off-again) but I am starting to think those rumors are not true. We still don't know where Vermont spent the night! There was a lot of confusion, drunkenness and phone calls going on. B & E thought we were all following them to a bar, but when we got there, we couldn't find anyone. So it was pretty chaotic by 3 am. No one knew where anyone was. We are still emailing about it, trying to get the facts straight.

CN and I crashed out hard-core and didn't wake up until about 11:30 the next day! I took a shower and then went out to lunch with his parents, who had me in stitches the whole time. After we ate, he and I were total couch potatoes for the rest of the day! I couldn't even stay awake for the USC/Tennessee football game -- CN had to keep waking me up for all the big plays!

And no, I DON'T want to talk about the game. Those refs made terrible calls and that last kick was total.......ok, that's all I'm going to say. *sniff!*

Speaking of USC, you have probably seen this in the news. Please keep these families in your minds today. It's such a sad story. My friend, Butter, knows the family that owns the house that burned down, so this hit pretty close to home for her. And please, since daylight savings is this weekend anyway, use this story as a reminder to check your fire alarms in your home.

Although I'm sad about the students and the football game, I'm going to try and focus on getting excited for Indiana Basketball!!!! The first exhibition game is this Sunday. I would like to just throw out there that the Hoosiers are ranked 9th in the ESPN/USA Today pre-season poll. So for all the UNC, Duke and Kentucky fans (my favorite teams to hate!)-- get ready!!!

But before all of that starts up, I have to say that I am the MOST excited about THIS new season, which starts tonight!!!!



I read in People magazine that there will be an episode this season where Julian McMahon does naked push ups!! Be still my beating heart!!!


Because I talk so much about Julian McMahon's hotness, I think CN is a little bit jealous! But he doesn't have anything to worry about. The chances of me ever meeting Julian are pretty slim. Besides, I highly doubt I'll ever have a conversation like this with Julian:

CN: Hey, I need to take you out on Thursday. We should do something nice.
Me: Oh....kay. Sounds good. But um....why?
CN: It's the first.

It will be our 2 month anniversary. What guy celebrates the 2 month anniversary???? I'm telling you, he's unreal. I didn't even realize the first of the month was our anniversary. Good grief.....

Costume Party!!!

My friend S (of the Happy Hour Crew -- see sidebar) and her boyfriend are throwing their 5th annual Halloween Costume Party tonight! Yay!!! Anyone can go, but everyone HAS to wear a costume. I LOVE wearing costumes, especially wigs. I can't wait to see S (she will be a Native American Princess) and her man (a cowboy). E and B are coming, too -- they are going to be Catholic school students. The rest of the Happy Hour Crew is going, but I have no idea what they are going to be. I can't wait to see what everyone thought up.

I am bringing the following people with me: CN, MJ, VW, The Runner, one of the members of the Rat Pack (who is randomly in town from NY!) and his roommate (who came down from NY for the ride). I don't know what any one is going to be, except for CN:

(and in case you are thinking it's just a cop costume, he would want me to tell you that he's going to be a character from Super Troopers, complete with a real mustache!)

...and The Runner:
Which will be hilarious! I can't wait to get my picture taken with the Burger King!

After much indecision, I have finally decided on a costume and have gathered everything I need. I bet you can guess what I'm going to be!









E even made me this to go with my costume!! Isn't that cool??? I'll be carrying it around at the party.


I will probably take a lot of pics this weekend. If any of them are anonymous enough, I will share with you. Tell me what you're going to be for Halloween!!! I love how creative people get for this holiday. Share with me, peeps!

Part 6: Vermont

This is the next installment of my trip with MJ & KT to NYC and Vermont. The last episode can be read here.

We had spent the vast majority of the day traveling by subway, train and car. The drive was beautiful, and we saw lots of little, stereotypical New England towns (which was a first for me, as I'd never been north of Pennsylvania at this point). It was very rural, with large white churches, red barns, little dairy farms, Victorian homes--it's a very delightful part of the country. It all looked like something from a postcard. I can only imagine how charming it must be when everything's covered in snow.

We were exhausted by the time we got to Lake Dunmore, Vermont. It is in (near?) Salisbury, VT. I think it's only about an hour from the Canadian border. We were way up there! But the weather was fantastic -- about 75-80 degrees, mostly sunny.

So we were finally in Vermont. It seemed to take forever, but once we were there, it was heavenly. It reminded me a lot of The Czarina's house: quiet, relaxing, lakeside and in the middle of nowhere. You step out of the car and just.....*sigh*. It is that relaxing. Let me share some pics:








Gorgeous, huh? These are all shots taken from the large, lush yard at the house. I can't remember the last time I was on a lawn that was perfect for walking around barefoot. Unlike here in the South, where our yards are baked to death by the hot sun and full of rocks and twigs, Vermont has nothing but dark, rich, soft earth and all the cool, summer rain makes walking around barefoot perrrrrrrrfect.Here's another shot of the house where we stayed, so you can see the wonderful lawn:

By the time we arrived, it was after dinnertime, and we were exhausted and hungry. MJ, KT, Rocky and I threw our suitcases upstairs in the big dormitory bedroom (there were about 4 beds in one room), and went downstairs to forage for food. The rest of the Rat Pack made us dinner: hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill. At first, this seemed delicious, but after eating that for lunch and dinner for three days, I hope I never have to eat a hamburger again as long as I live!

The weekend was spent eating junk food, drinking terrifying amounts of alcohol (not by me, obviously), fishing, napping, swimming, playing wiffle ball, making smores by the campfire, smoking cigarettes, stealing firewood from a neighbor, sunbathing, laughing, going out for breakfast, listening to music and playing drinking games well into the night.

There was even one night where we all went skinny dipping in the FREEZING lake. And wouldn't you know? MJ & KT, those bitches, made me go FIRST!!! :) But it was still fun. Freezing, but fun.

The Rat Pack probably didn't have as much fun as we did, though, because they had to listen to us talk about ponies, sparkles, glitter, ribbons, feeling pretty, bunnies, things that are fluffy & soft, puppies, things that are cute, lip gloss and similar affinities associated with those of the female persuasion. Keep in mind that as we went on and on and on about ponies, we are speaking in voices normally reserved for 4 year old little girls and choir boys, all while laughing our asses off. We talked like this for 3 days straight, and somehow, never tired of it. I could call MJ or KT right now and say, "Ohmygod! Ponies!" and we would pick up right where we left off. The Rat Pack wailed, complained, covered their ears and yelled at us whenever we broke into our "Pony Voices."

This monster of annoyance was created by Rocky, who began teasing us for being so silly in the car on the way up to Vermont. He started using the voice when he began to get annoyed with us for needing to pee and wanting to look at the cows by the side of the road. We took the teasing and ran with it, making it about 1,000% more annoying. That's what he gets for making us pee in the woods.

So really, he brought it upon himself.

NYC: Part 2 or, A View from the Top

Greetings, readers! MJ wanted me to do "Part 2" of our trip to NYC. I will try to remember everything I can without overlapping too much. We got into JFK around 10:30 or so, waited forEVER for a cab, and got to Rocky's apartment. It turns out I was wrong, thinking he lived in SoHo. He lives in Greenwich Village (or, if you are a New Yorker, "The Village"), right on the west end of Bleeker Street, which is only about a block from NYU and this landmark. (I took some pics of his street, I'll share them later.) This part of NYC is a big maze of streets, full of bars, little restaurants and a few shops. It's a neat neighborhood, full of those red brick, 5-story buildings I told you about in my last post. I was surprised at the number of people who were still out and about, on a Wednesday night. "Oh, right. The city that never sleeps," I thought.

Walking up the 2 flights of a beat-up stairwell (which had pink stairs and smelled very musty) we arrived at Rocky's apartment. It was surprisingly large. Well, except for his bedroom, which might have measured 8x6 -- if that. He calls it his "cubicle". Otherwise, the apartment is generous in size -- high ceilings, hardwood floors, large windows and a kitchen big enough to cook in. Not that the 4 bachelors living there ever used it. And we soon learned that having one bathroom for all of us was very challenging. Anyway, we basically arrived, dropped our stuff and went to a bar (Down the Hatch) with Rocky. Because we went out the night we got there, but wanted to have as full of a day as possible, we went to bed at about 2am and got up at about 7am. Ouch.

Apparently, someone awoke to this, since this pic was on MJ's camera:



This is Rocky, asleep on the floor of his apartment. One of us has placed a sticker on his butt. Tee hee. We were going to go to a Mets game with him the next day, but that idea fell through. We were stuck with shopping as an alternative activity. Bummer, right? ;)

So we got up and got out. The weather was fantastic -- sunny, mid-70s. First things first: we needed breakfast. Specifically, NY bagels with cream cheese. We headed over to the Waverly, a greasy spoon near NYU. (I don't think you are supposed to confuse this with The Wavery Inn Restaurant, which is very "schmeh schmeh" and owned by a Vanity Fair editor). Anyway, we had a nice, big breakfast, and I mistakenly didn't order a bagel with cream cheese. The best part about breakfast was the rumbling. "Um...is that an earthquake or something?" I asked. [Inside my head, I was thinking, "OMG! The building is FALLING DOWN and no one is panicking!!!! Just calm down, VB or you will expose yourself as a tourist! Ask MJ & KT calmly what the hell is going on."]

"No, that's the subway," MJ and KT replied, "There's a station right outside of this building."

"Really? It makes the whole building shake?" I asked, totally amazed. They nodded.

"WOW!" I replied. For the rest of breakfast, I grinned from ear to ear every time the rumbling happened. I just thought it was so cool. I knew I'd love the subway.

And I did! (See last post for why.)*

After breakfast, we got on the subway and headed over to the Empire State Building. Where we waited in line. For about 2 hours. Maybe longer? I don't know. It seemed to take forever. I almost told MJ that we can just forget about it and turn around and go, but I knew I'd regret it if we did.

I'm so glad we went up. The weather was perfect. Not even breezy. Check out the views!

Can you see Central Park in this one? It's behind some of the buildings, almost in the upper left hand corner of the picture.

I like this picture, because it's full of NYC cabs. We had one cabbie who had such a thick accent, I'm amazed we got where we wanted to go. None of us could understand this guy.

This is a shot of lower Manhattan. So we are looking south in this shot. The area where it looks like there's a "gap" in the skyline is where the Twin Towers used to be. I think. To the right is Jersey and to the left is Brooklyn.

Ok, you might have to click on it to get a better look, but The Flatiron Building is near the bottom center of this shot. LOVE that building. Did you know it's only 6 feet wide at the tip?

This is what you see if you lean against the observatory wall and look straight down all 86 floors. Wowza. Teeny tiny, huh? It was funny to me that you cannot really hear the cars from that height, but you could hear the sirens from the fire engines VERY well.

Do you see the Chrysler Building near the right-hand side of this shot? It's so beautiful. The Chrysler Company has never had its headquarters there. I thought that was interesting. It's just a big, shiny advertisement for the company.


By the time we were done with the Empire State Building, we were starved for lunch. Since we wanted to head over to Canal Street to look at designer knock-off accessories, we decided to stop for lunch on the way in Little Italy. We had lunch at one of the round, tableclothed (is that a word?) tables in the foreground of this picture. I could be wrong, but I think it was right on Mulberry Street. Although it was very touristy, I ordered a big bowl of tortellini in meat sauce, and let me tell you -- it was out of this world. I ate every bite. Full from our meatballs, eggplant and tortellini, we headed over to Canal Street to do some shopping in/near Chinatown.

Unfortunately, time flies when you're having fun. It was already mid-afternoon when we finished eating. Our day in NYC was almost over.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alright, I'm going to stop here for now because A) MJ says my posts are ridiculously long, B) I'm sure I've inadvertently left stuff out, and so I will stop before I get too far ahead of myself, and C) I'm trying to use up a roll of film with more pics of NYC on it so I can share the pics at the same time I am telling the tales of NY/Vermont.

I know, I suck at pictures. I rarely remember to take them, and when I do, they are pretty lame. Yes, I am fully aware that I need to buy a digital camera. And take better pics. Sorry.

MJ, did I leave anything out so far???

* SUPER COOL COINCIDENCE: Ok, MJ rolled her eyes when I told her this, but I thought it was cool. I have been watching this documentary about the history of NYC. The other night, I finally got to the part where they build the subways. WHO do you think was the FIRST person to ride the NYC subway???? The mayor of NYC. No surprise, really, right? EXCEPT that he was a distant relative/ancestor of mine. Yup. (My dad's side of the family is from NY, and I recognized the name immediately. I didn't know he was mayor, either!) BUT WAIT! It gets WEIRDER: How about the FIRST place he got on the subway was THE SAME STREET where we stayed in NYC, and may have been the SAME SUBWAY STATION where I got on for the first time, too!!! Yet another one of my small world experiences.

(MJ, where did we get on after Waverly? Was it Bleeker???)

Leaving on a Jet Plane....

I've been tagged! cmk is having me do the "8 Weird Facts about Me" thing again.

Although I've done this one before, I'm really glad to be tagged today, my brain is about as organized as this right now:

So it's good for me to have some structure today. I'm feeling a little giddy/anxious. So this will be a NYC-Trip-Theme list. Because I'm incapable of thinking about anything else.

Since I got up this morning, I keep saying, "D'OH! I forgot...." or "OH, sh*t! When am I going to...?" since today is the day I'm leaving with MJ & KT for NYC/Vermont to hang out with the Rat Pack. I'll be fine once I'm on the plane and I'm LaGuardia-bound. *takes deep breath*

Let's see. What to share...from my disorganized, ADD brain...

1. Songs I'm into at the moment: "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" -- The Darkness, "Used to Love You" -- John Legend, "Start Me Up" -- The Rolling Stones, "Sour Times" -- Portishead, "Vacation" -- The Go-Gos, "Bag Lady" -- Erykah Badu, "Tambourine" -- Eve. We will be listening to these (hopefully?) on the drive up to the Charlotte airport.

2. Books I'm bringing with me to read on train/plane: The Truth About the Irish -- by Terry Eagleton and The Hungry Years: Confessions of a Food Addict -- by William Leith. I always bring more than one book with me, in case I can't "get into" one of them. And yes, I am both Irish and a food addict. Luckily, both of these are supposed to be funny. We will see if they compare to David Sedaris, world's funniest writer (IMHO). I'm also bringing a travel guide to NYC (duh).

3. I am trying to remain calm about getting on an airplane today. Believe it or not, although I do fear heights, I am totally cool with flying. I love it, actually. Once I'm on the plane. You see, getting to the airport on time and making sure I don't get strip-searched (yes, I am paranoid), or miss my flight or get on the wrong flight altogether STRESS ME THE EFF OUT. Really, it's just not normal, the way I agonize over airports and flying. I triple-check everything, I'm hyper-aware of my surroundings and I'm sure my face has a look of sheer panic when I'm walking around the airport. I live in fear of boarding a plane, only to hear the pilot announce (once we are mid-flight, of course) "Ok, folks, we'll be landing in Beijing in about 45 minutes, and remember, your $3,000 tickets are non-refundable."

Not that Beijing would be a bad place to go. I'd like to visit China some day. But if that's not my destination, hearing an announcement like that could quite possibly send me into a grand mal seizure. Or a catatonic state. Or something crazy like that.

I'm really hoping I won't break out in buckets of sweat and smell like B.O. ("platinum strength" deodorant my ASS), get supremely dehydrated and practically scream at the flight attendant for more water or do anything stupid when I'm flying this time. I also hope I won't have to run to my plane like I did last December. And I hope I don't have to sit near any of these people. Ugh, just thinking about navigating the "friendly" skies makes my heart flutter and my shoulders tense up. Where are my cigarettes? And WHY can't you smoke on planes anymore???? Don't they know that for some people, flying is extremely stressful??? Perhaps I get stressed out about it because I have a subconscious association?

4. In any case, perhaps I can dig up a Xanax to take as we drive up to Charlotte to catch our direct flight? That would help me a LOT. I heart Xanax. This would be a good time to take one, since I would be zonked, but I would have traveling companions to make sure I still get on the plane. This will be the first time in 10 years that I have traveled with someone. It will be nice to not have to talk to strangers. Traveling alone is not nearly as fun.

5. There is some comfort in knowing that, for the first time EVER IN MY LIFE, I did not overpack. (Thank you, MJ! It seems that having someone help/watch me pack is the key to solving my problem!) No struggling with 3 bags, no kicking myself for bringing stuff I didn't even wear. Of course, this inevitably means I will spend the whole vacation saying, "Dangit! I wish I had brought my [insert something vital here]!!" I am also comforted by the genius that is MJ, who booked a direct flight. WHEW!

6. This weekend, I will be at a lake somewhere in Vermont. The water will be cold. I'm wondering if it will be like the lake I visited as a child, in the mountains of North Carolina. That lake had (I am not making this up!) teeny tiny freshwater jellyfish in it. I don't think they stung, but I remember being amazed at the concept of freshwater jellyfish. See? They do exist!

7. Souvenir Purchasing Goals include: a fake one of these, a pair of big silver earrings (all my pairs are little or casual. I need some big, shiny, dressy ones) and a cool t-shirt.

8. Food Eating Goals include: lots of NY pizza, a real bagel (they are surprisingly hard to find in the South), authentic Italian anything, and some Vermont ice cream.

Ok, I just re-read #3, and my heart is POUNDING. Even just reading about airports raises my blood pressure. I am ridiculous. Of course, Mr. Chertoff is NOT helping today!!!

Cool! Time for lunch now. I will be boarding the plane in about 8 hours! WOO HOO!!!!

Oh, if you want to do this meme (admittedly, I didn't do a good job at it....it was supposed to be weird things....well, maybe I accomplished it. I dunno.), help yourself.

Green Acres

Greetings, readers! Before I recount my travels to you, I have to share some good/exciting news. The night before I left town, I mustered up the courage to knock on Cute Neighbor's door and ask for some help with my air filter. He gladly helped me out. And we ended up talking in my kitchen for an hour! Woot! Here is what I learned:

1. He has the coolest job -- he conducts extensive background checks for the military. He's not in the military, though. "Did you tell him you're a stalker, too?" E asked when I told her. Har har.

2. He completely geeks out when it comes to ghost stories and ghost shows on tv, just like I do. "He had me at 'ghost stories'," I told MJ and KT.

3. He is my age and from a small town here in SC. Also, no mention of a girlfriend. He gave the impression that he's a workaholic, and I've never seen a girl at his house. So the signs are good.

4. He really liked the cookies I made, and is interested in coming over for Lasagna Night this weekend, when I make it for all of my friends. Woot!

Aren't you proud of me?? I think I got my mojo back or something. We talked about lots of stuff, but those are the highlights. We will see how it goes this weekend. Yay!

I have returned to my more urban home. It's nice to be home in Cola town. Where it doesn't take 45 minutes of driving before you see a stoplight. Where you don't have to put on bug spray to get the mail, because the mailbox is a 7 minute walk away. Where grocery stores sell cilantro. I am not making this up.

On Monday night, I was making dinner for The Czarina and Smurf, so I had to drive into town (30 minutes or so away) and get ingredients. One of which was cilantro. Now, you might not think it would be an unusual thing. In allrecipes.com alone, there are over 200 recipes calling for cilantro. Many Mexican dishes call for cilantro. I mean, it's not like I was looking for kumquats or persimmons. Anyway, I went to three grocery stores, and finally found ONE bunch. The first 2 stores didn't even sell it AT ALL. This completely blew my mind. I mean, I know some people absolutely hate it, but to not even sell it? Come on!

But enough about cilantro. I'm sure by now, you can see that my hometown is not nearly as civilized as I would like. Which is the main reason I don't live there. That, and it's also where The Czarina lives. More than 5 days of Czarina time makes me want to go postal.

And I was there for 7 days.

So yes, it's good to be home.

Highlights from my trip (and true to form, I took no pictures. Sorry! I'm not a picture person!):

1. Got to see NYC Girl, whom I've been friends with since the 1st grade. She and her mother are on a mission to get me to move to NYC. I have to say....it's a tempting idea. And not because of the crazy dream I had, either! She lives on the edge of Chinatown and might have an extra bedroom in her apartment soon. But more on this in a minute...

2. I got to see some other elementary school friends. While we can all hang out and have fun, I'm really only still good friends with NYC Girl. So she and I decided not to go to the "after-party" at their hotel room. We had a good time just hanging out with each other.

3. I bought a bedspread and shams for my bed at the awesome furniture store in my hometown. They look a lot like this. Although I'm broke, the prices were hard to beat, and the white will look nice against my green bedroom walls. Then, the next day, we went to Richmond, where I got an adorable black cotton shirtdress from Ann Taylor, one of my favorite stores-- I tried to find a picture of it for you, but couldn't. Then, at Crate & Barrel, Czarina spotted this table on sale. And since she is such a nice Mommy, she got it for me. I really needed a table in my living room, and it will look great. I have to wait for her to bring it down with her, though, because it wouldn't fit in my car.

Yes, you read that correctly. She is visiting me. Next week. I will be maxed-out on Mom time, for sure. *rolls eyes* Don't get me wrong, I love my mom. It's just that The Czarina is somewhat of a......control freak. And she really likes to control me. This is the source of most of our disagreements. But I'm getting off-topic.

4. I got to see the P family. I just love them to death. (They are our friends whose house burned down, and whose daughter is pregnant and almost died. My parents and Mr. & Mrs. P are/were very close and all of us kids grew up together.) Anyway, the daughter is doing fine and will be having a baby in 3 weeks. I got to meet her boyfriend (the baby daddy) and he's a really nice guy. The parents are getting ready to move into their rebuilt house. So they are hanging in there, and things are looking up.

5. The day of the party, Sammy escaped from a hole in the screen porch and decided to disappear on me. I completely freaked out, and started walking around yelling for him. After searching unsuccessfully for a half hour, I began to cry. The Czarina thought I should check for messages on my cell phone, since Sammy's tag has my number on it. I was relieved to learn some neighbors up the road had grabbed him and were holding him for me. It turns out that Sammy had walked about 2 miles up the busy highway near Czarina's house. It's a miracle he wasn't turned into an asphalt pancake by one of the many big rig logging trucks that go barreling up and down that road. Sammy was locked in the basement for the rest of the day after that!

6. The party was fun, and I got to see my siblings and even more family friends. I met the 40 year old The Czarina was trying to fix me up with. He was good looking and not a dork, which I have to give her credit for. But he had a Miami Vice vibe going on. As in, Don Johnson. Which honestly, kind of skeeved me out. We didn't talk very much.

7. Everyone seemed to be trying to talk me into moving. Despite the fact that I just bought a house and that I have lots of friends down here, and haven't really expressed any serious interest in moving anytime soon. I am wondering if The Czarina is behind this. In any case, one person was trying to talk me into moving to DC, another to Richmond and another to NYC (NYC Girl's mom is on a mission, I am telling you!). They all made very good cases--these are all cities I think I'd enjoy living in. And I have to say, I am chewing over these ideas. You might even say I am moderately serious about it. My family has a tendency to be fairly nomadic, and I am no different. It's not all that unusual for us to move halfway across the country suddenly. Or to visit Europe and never come back, as my aunt did. I've been here for 5 years, and I am starting to get the "Been there, got the t-shirt" feeling. Columbia is one of those places that doesn't seem to change all that much. I might be ready for a new stomping ground.

8. This brings me to my next little update tidbit. I'm going to NYC in about 2 weeks!!!! YAY!!! I have never been there, and I'm really excited. MJ, KT and I are meeting up with the Rat Pack and hanging out in the city for a day or so (Rocky just moved to SoHo, so we will be staying there), then we're heading up to Vermont (another place I've never been) for a weekend at a lake house. Can I just tell you how excited I am???? It will feel like a REAL vacation. Too bad I'm terrifyingly broke.

So, readers, I need your advice on NYC. What do I wear? (I am especially wanting to know what kind of shoes to wear when I walk around the city. Flip flops seem too sloppy, sneakers too touristy and everything else seems too uncomfortable.) What should I expect? What should I bring? Where should we go? (Keep in mind I am B-R-O-K-E) Do you think I will like NYC? I'm going to try and meet up with NYC Girl while I'm up there. And I'll be with people who know their way around the city. So I won't be too stressed out, and I will be able to enjoy myself. Whew!

As you can tell, I have a lot going on (NYC trip, Lasagna Night, Czarina's visit, my annual review at work, etc.) and will be really busy for the next few weeks. My to-do list is crazy long. But reading up on NYC neighborhoods, culture and visitor advice is much MUCH more interesting right now, so I think I will go do some research.....right after I burn a CD with NYC-themed songs......yeah.........I am totally geeking out right now....

Maybe I will find the theme song to that show, Green Acres. It is very fitting right now, after leaving the beautiful, rural Virginia countryside (Green acres is the place to be...) and looking forward to NYC (New York is where I'd rather be!)........

Are you singing the song now? LOL

Guess What!

I'm moving to NYC.

Ok, not really. But I did dream about that last night. A super cool dream, actually.

I pulled up to the curb, with my car packed full of stuff. (I probably should have sold my car, now that I think about it...guess I'm not too bright in my dreams.) I was hungry, so I decided to leave it all in the car and go find some food. I also wanted to see my new apartment. For some reason, I was carrying a huge, red backpack that was crammed full of who-knows-what.

I locked my car door and proceeded up the steps, across the front yard (right, like buildings have yards in NYC!) and began to walk around the complex. This apartment buildings looked sort of like a cheap hotel -- this gives you a good idea of what it looked like from the outside. And I love how there were only 2 floors to the apartment building -- again, not what real NYC buildings are like. There were several buildings, sprawled out across the block, connected by breezeways. (Am I describing this clearly??? I hope so.)

As I go up the steps, I realize that someone had written something in the cement a long time ago, before it dried: "SPANISH HARLEM" it said. And in my dream, I remember thinking, "Oh, I don't think I moved to the safest neighborhood in town. Eh. I'll be fine."

So I'm carrying my big, red backpack and I begin to walk around, looking for my apartment. Of course, since I'm dreaming, I have no idea what the apartment number is, I just know I need to find it. My plan is to find the apartment, put down my extremely heavy backpack, and go find some food. Along the way, I encounter the apartment complex's janitor: Joe Dirt.

"Huh. My janitor is Joe Dirt. How 'bout that!" I thought.

So I'm walking around and I open a door to find this huge cafeteria. Apparently, this is not an apartment complex so much as it is a college dorm. From what I gathered as I wandered around the cafeteria, the apartment complex serves food there every day. I guess it was included in my rent??? Very interesting. I began to walk around the cafeteria, soaking it all in. It was packed full of people! (And of course, I kept slamming my huge backpack into everyone. Oops. Not the best first impression. I am klutzy, even in my dreams.)

But here's the cool part: Everyone in the cafeteria was young and single. And 75% of them were cute guys. Who were checking me out. (In my dream, apparently, I was very full of myself!) Observing this, I thought to myself, "Holy cow. I have hit the jackpot. I will have dates for weeks! This is like heaven! This is the best idea I've ever had!"

To boot, there were people in the crowd I already knew: The Rat Pack was there. How funny that they all coincidentally lived in the same complex where I was now living! Sweet!

I don't remember what happened after that, but it sure was a cool dream!

Updates: I am going to knock on Cute Neighbor's door today. So wish me luck, because I know I will want to wuss out again. I'm also going to see if he would be willing to get my mail for me while I'm out of town.

I will be leaving to go visit The Czarina and the rest of my fam tomorrow. I will be gone for about a week, and I don't know how much posting I will do. It should be a good trip. This weekend, a bunch of my friends from elementary school will be in town (their high school reunion is this weekend). Next weekend is The Czarina's big annual party in memory of WLF, my dad. Lots of BBQ and family friends. I will get to see the P family. Yay!

So I will try to post, but I can't make any promises. I probably won't be doing too much that is blog-worthy, anyway. I will spend a lot of time reading, watching movies with Smurf, going to the bar in my hometown (yes, there is a grand total of ONE bar there) to see people, and napping. If I'm lucky, I might be able to talk The Czarina into taking me shopping in Richmond one day.

Before I go, I do have a fun thing to share with you. Want to see some pics of my fam? Here you go!

This is The Czarina's house. This is actually taken from behind the house (on the left) and from the far side of the pond (foreground). So you are seeing the backside of the house, rather than the front. There are two buildings on the right side. One is where a friend of the family rents out a small house from The Czarina. The one on the far right is The Barn, where we store extra furniture and stuff like WLF's extra books and his old bottle collection. This is also where the Controversial Family Furniture is secretly hidden. (Shh, don't tell my mom's relatives. Remind me to tell you about that little family issue sometime.) Anyway, as you can probably gather, this is a very VERY rural and relaxing place to be. I think it would be impossible to feel stressed out here. I will probably see some wildlife when I'm there: deer, beavers, that sort of thing. I know this is kind of a crappy pic, but it's all I've got. I will take some better pics and share later.


This is WLF and Fat Dog from a few years ago. I miss WLF very much, especially this time of year. Not only is it Father's Day, but it's also his birthday.

......and here she is, in the flesh: The Czarina. It's hard to see, but she's wearing this super-cool black & white cameo ring which I'm hoping I will get to have one day. She looks really cute in this pic. I think she was going out to dinner with her girlfriends or something.


Have super weekends everyone! Sammy, Toby and I will be on I-95 tomorrow morning while y'all are snoozing away! I'll have some good pics to share when I get back.