By the way, I just realized that I've been blogging here for more than a year now. So I spent some time digging around in my archives. Good times, good times ..
I'm pleased to say that my writing and purpose here has stayed relatively consistent. And the title "Letters Home" is pretty accurate.
Some random flashbacks, just for kicks:
- My first post
- One of my fave Metro stories
- I have since dropped a few bills in from time to time
- One year ago TODAY -- happy birthday, Mom!
- This post still makes me sigh
- Good portrait of me
- Better portrait of me
- Virginia tags -- woo!
- Remember that post about preferred sleeve length?
- Aw, short hair!
- I can't believe this was in April. I swear it was just yesterday.
I had my first get-together at my apartment this weekend! (Admittedly, it's kind of sad that it took me this long to have a group over ... but it took me a while to come to grips with my current living situation.)
At any rate, we had SO MUCH FOOD. We couldn't even fit all of it on my coffee table:
The occasion for this little get-together and the massive amount of food? Football. Of course.
Auburn beat Florida: 20-17. NICE.
I'm delighted to see more recipes popping up for shrimp-and-grits dishes! I had my first taste of this combination years ago at the Fish House in Pensacola. Their famous "Grits a Ya Ya" had me hooked. It's one of those memorable dishes that I crave and make a point to savor anytime I'm down on that part of the coast.
At any rate, I've noticed shrimp and grits on more menus recently -- which is delightful! And today, I came across another recipe that looks pretty yummy. I still haven't tried to make this myself yet ... maybe that's my next cooking endeavor.
Ooooo ... nice ...
... was when we were seated in the Helen Hayes Theatre, waiting for Xanadu to start. I realized that that was exactly where I'd always wanted to be at that precise moment.
Sometimes I forget in the day-to-day flow of just living ... that I'm living a dream. I had many dreams as a kid. But it's one thing to imagine and aspire. And quite another to find yourself in that moment, living that life that was such a distant hope for seemingly forever.
There I was. In New York visiting a friend -- who a little more than a year earlier, hosted me in his home country of Australia -- after taking the train up from my apartment in DC. Comfortably awaiting the start of a Broadway musical, after which we had plans to pop over to Little Italy for a bit. I was very easy-breezy. Just living. And it hit me. Every single aspect of that scenario is a tidbit of what I always wanted.
Twas very surreal.
Finally getting a chance to recount all the experiences of my trip to New York last weekend. (Geez, it's the THURSDAY after I got back. What a week.)
First up, I was staying with some really fun people. Paull (it was his birthday weekend), Pesey, Mike, Flan, Chase and Boyle ... put 'em all together ... we're talking a seriously good time. All weekend. All I contributed to the group was a Southern accent, seemingly magical cell phone skills (ha), and the mystical knowledge that bread is stronger than glass.
Friday, we ate at an "interesting" BBQ place. Christi and I, both from Alabama, concluded that it must've been a Texas BBQ place. We didn't know what the hell to order! After that, we went for drinks at a rooftop bar with a view of the Empire State Building. (Surreal.) And then ... we headed to the Upper East Side, where my hosts live, and went to a couple local bars until ... well ... very, very late.
Saturday ... I ... rested ...
Saturday night was the housewarming. So my hosts grilled out ... twas very enjoyable (and yummy food). The big thing of Saturday night was the 80s bar -- it was SO MUCH FUN! We went to this place that plays 80s music all night and is filled with huge TV screens showing the coinciding music videos -- p-re-tty hilarious.
Sunday was my favorite day by far! We went to see Xanadu on Broadway!! I had the BEST time. Ahhh, I can't even express how much I enjoyed it. I'll just say, I haven't enjoyed something this much in a long, long, long time.
After that, we wandered around Times Square for a while ... made our way to Toys R Us (kind of a random site to see, but it was fun). Apparently, that Toys R Us is the largest toy store in the world. (Really?? Hmm.) Oh, and I did visit the site of our Edelman NY office, which is right smack in the middle of Times Square. Didn't go inside or anything. But I did embrace the cheesy-ness and touched the Edelman sign. Oooo ...
And then ... we headed to Little Italy to catch the San Gennaro festival. The festival itself was cool -- pretty much what you would expect. (The Americanism was pretty heavily embedded, though. I was disappointed by that. Hence my photos, taken out of pure shock and disgust, of the deep fried Oreos.)
But we did stumble upon this little place called Caffe Roma. There, I had the BEST hazelnut cappuccino I've ever had in my entire life. (sigh) It was sinfully delicious. We also had a wonderful homemade tiramisu. Ah, authentic tiramisu makes all the difference in the world. This place also had a huge case of enticing pastries and goodies. And if you bought something "to go," they'd put it in a little box and tie it up with string. Literally. For some reason, I found this refreshing and delightful!
We had dinner at a place called La Mela ("the apple"), seated outside, where a pair of gentlemen with guitars were strolling about playing songs for the guests. I ordered a dish called "chicken sorrentina," and I don't remember everything about it with great precision, but it was wonderful! Two thinly sliced grilled chicken breasts, topped with two slices of eggplant, which was covered with mozzarella cheese and pruschetta and then baked. It was topped off with some sort of gravy-like sauce ... reminded me vaguely of a marsala sauce, but I'm not sure. At any rate, del-icious!
That's pretty much it. Somewhere between Broadway and Little Italy, my throat started feeling sore. Sunday night was spent lounging around, working on a project for a friend, and getting ready to head back to DC early the next morning.
Oh, one more interesting tid bit. Paull almost put me on a train for Canada. Luckily, I can read and was able to avoid this disaster.
I went to New York for a friend's birthday this past weekend. It was a weekend of firsts! First trip to New York, first Broadway show, first experience on the NY subway, first Italian street festival, first time to set foot inside the Barbie house (woo!), etc. AND ... the train ride up there ... was my first trip on a real, honest-to-goodness train.
The best way to share it ... is in real time. I took notes along the way, so I could share later on. Enjoy my random string of thoughts ...
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Sitting on the train at Union Station in DC. Just wanted to jot down some initial impressions since this is my first time on a TRAIN!! (Metro does not count.)
Two thoughts kept running through my head since I got to the station:
1) "This is so cool!" (Yeah, I'm a dork.)
2) "I have to take ____ on a train ride sometime!" (Fill the blank with any variety of people, Mom and Don, Dad and Linda, Dan, Andrea, Jesse and Ben -- when Ben is a little bigger.)
Anyone who REALLY knows me knows that nothing makes me more uneasy than the unknown. Taking on a new experience, where I have no idea what to expect -- nothing terrifies me more. (Heh. You wouldn't guess that, considering I moved up to DC by myself over a year ago.)
So I woke up this morning, having no idea how the following few hours would transpire. All I knew was that I would have my tush in a coach-class seat on a train headed for New York at 11:30 this morning. The steps that would get me from the front door of my apartment to that seat on the train ... well, I just had faith I would figure it out. Or miss the train.
My ultimate reassurance that I use with myself when I'm stressed about something is, "Well, nobody is gonna DIE." Miss the train? No big deal. Nobody's gonna die.
Jumping ahead to this very moment, the train is now MOVING!!! And the little conductor with his little cap is coming around saying, "Tickets please" and punching everyone's tickets. Tee-hee!
I love to share little random things I notice along the way, so I think I'll spend the rest of the trip just jotting things down as I spot them. (So it will be like you're sitting next to me! Yippee!)
There are working, usable power outlets right here by the seat. Get ready ... I'm gonna be a dork ... and take a picture. I have no shame (...)
(...) Aw, the flash went off. There's no hiding it now.
The whole-punch used to mark the tickets ... makes a cute little hole in the shape of a bell.
This one is going to be tough for me to describe. And it is impossible for me to discreetly take a picture of this, so I will just try to describe it. Although ... ah, what the hell. Not like I'll ever see these people again. (...)
(...) Okay, so you can see that the luggage is stowed above, much like on an airplane. But at the edge of the luggage rack, there is a little slot where the conductor slides these cards ... that I can only guess have something to do with the passenger's destination. (?) I dunno. But I'm curious.
Looking out the window. The train takes you through parts of the area I hadn't seen before. DC really IS surrounded by swampland.
Oh! We're in Baltimore now. "Hey, Sara and Evan!"
Something that I didn't really think about: the train doesn't take you straight from Union Station to -- my ultimate destination -- Penn Station in NY. It makes several stops along the way. As we pulled out of Union Station, I wondered how this would work and how long each stop would take. (Thinking it would be a pain in the arse to make several 20 minute stops during a three-hour train ride.) But no worries. Each stop takes no more than a minute. Two minutes, tops. I'm not kidding. Talk about efficient!
Wow ... passing a huge, gorgeous cemetery on the outskirts of Baltimore ... beautiful. (I wasn't quick enough to snap a photo, sorry.)
I did not choose my seat wisely. Hmm. Hard to describe, but something to be aware of for the trip back. There are definitely seats with good views and seats with ... well, significant obstructions. I, not thinking, chose the latter. But the good news is that the train isn't very crowded, so I still have a seat to myself. And in case you were wondering, it's four seats across. Two on either side of the aisle. Nice and spacious.
The last car is the "quiet car," which means no cell phones and whispering only. (Yes, cell phone usage is allowed in other cars.) But a "quiet car." What a neat idea.
Oh my ... just passed through what I imagine one could call "slums." It just dawned on me. I've never seen -- with my own eyes, not on TV -- that kind of living condition. And even now, I'm seated on a train on my way to NY for a fun weekend ... only seeing this in a passing moment. Yeah. I feel ... humbled. And makes me very, very thankful for my own life and opportunities.
WATER ... crossing a lake or bay ... pretty ...
Oh, and there is a "cafe car" where you can buy snacks and whatnot. I -- again, not thinking -- have made two mistakes. 1) I ate an early breakfast and failed to bring a lunch with me, and 2) I don't have any small bills. The "cafe car" is small-bills-only. Shmay. Looks like I'm going hungry.
Oh-HO! We just passed a trailer park. A wide grin spread across my face, and I snapped open the laptop to jot this down. Heh. All you people I work with act like you've never seen a trailer park before. Pshaw. This is obviously NOT just an Alabama thing.
Well, helllloooo, Philadelphia. Nheh. Nothin' special.
Oh. It just occurred to me. That little card that the conductor punches and places above your seat ... um ... I wonder if you're supposed to take that with you when you get off. I've noticed that some are missing that were there before ... but I didn't see if the people took 'em with them. Ruh-roh. Gotta figure this out ...
Okay. No, turns out, the conductor walks through and collects them near the end of the journey. (Whew! I was getting worried that I didn't know what the heck to do!)
Almost there!
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Shortly after that, I arrived at Penn Station and soon found myself stumbling along the sidewalk, trying to not look like an idiot (a.k.a. tourist).
