blog

looking for something to do next Monday night?

If you're in the New York area next Monday September 26th, I have the perfect thing for you! My South Africa mission team is hosting a wine & dessert tasting fundraiser to support the orphanages in South Africa that we'll be working with. We are hoping to provide a generous donation to these less fortunate while we are there in November. If you're looking for a good cause, drop by our event!

roadtrip!

My mom and GG are embarking on a roadtrip this morning and headed to... the Big Apple! They're scheduled to be here tomorrow afternoon and I am so excited! I have planned out all the places I'm going to take them, and I am anxiously awaiting their arrival!!!

When I was younger, we used to always play the 'alphabet game' in the car on roadtrips. (I hope Mom and GG are playing now, given they have 17 hours in the car together.) I would have beaten Brent every time if only we had passed by this sign!































[found here]

month of June: what I did

Here are the Top 10 (ish) photos of things I did in June. Blogging got away from me. Better late than never.

I mentioned this before, but I went to Salt Lake City. This pillow was on my bed in my hotel room. How adorable. Look at that salt shaker.

I visited the Mormon temple. Actually I didn't go IN, but I did a few loops around. It has beautiful architecture, interesting place.

Then I migrated to the South - 'the loveliest village on the plains' south. I went for another Four Friends wedding, and this time I took Brendan with me.

As you can tell, he's very happy to be on the Plains for the first time! (Although I may have been the happier one that he was finally getting to experience Auburn...)

I'm not sure why but I really love this candid shot. Thought I would add it for good measure.

Reunited again! The second time in just 3 months. We could get used to this... Rose I guess the pressure is on for you!

I found out that Rose had never climbed the Auburn sign to take a picture! That changed quickly when I learned that. We made our way up there with the beautiful Samford Hall in the background!

And then to make Brendan feel like a true Auburn-er, I made him climb up to take a picture too. He could pass for an Auburn grad!

The beautiful bride before the wedding.

Backstage waiting for the big event. (I forgot to mention: Rose and I were candle lighters in the wedding! We had to really focus or else a small mishap could have burned down the church and ruined Rachel's big day. We made it through successfully-whew!)

At the Greystone Mansion for the reception.

Tyler and Rose

Trying to catch the bouquet (I get competitive with this stuff at every wedding.)

Still waiting... and probably encouraging Rachel to throw it to me.


Even after all of my theatrics, I still didn't catch it.

So naturally I made Brendan go for the garter (you can see him in the far right of this picture above).

He didn't try very hard... and he didn't catch it.

Our wonderful hostess and the sweet Roberts girls.

I think Brendan was saying here "Please take my picture again!" So I obliged. (That's actually probably the exact opposite of what he was saying.) I like the picture though!

Goodbye to the newlyweds!

After the wedding, we headed back to Tuscaloosa. I spent the day on Sunday with my family and at the lake. I couldn't ask for anything more fun!

I'm pretty certain this was way over 10-ish photos. Too much to commemorate, I suppose.

washington dc

I recently spent 3 days in our beautiful nation's capital, as I mentioned earlier. Katherine and I went down to visit a couple of friends (and I went to, er, sight-see for the 5th time). We stayed with a friend of Katherine's from college and she hosted us with such wonderful hospitality! We ate brunch at a fantastic place called Founding Farmers, which I particularly enjoyed because of all the southern fare. Then we toured around, went to the Holocaust Museum (which I highly recommend while going in with the expectation that it will be a tremendously heavy experience), ate dinner at a great burger spot (Good Stuff Eatery) and went 'monument hopping' Saturday night. Sunday we made the most of our short time before we caught the bus and went to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, which was soooo great!

I was a little sad to board the bus back to NYC, but alas vacations can't last forever. Since I took almost 200 pictures in the short weekend, I'll spare you and only add my faves here.


Fried green tomatoes and chicken & waffles. Can you go wrong?































Julie at her summer job: the Treasury Department!


True tourists: the Capitol at night!


I heart Alabama!



















Good Stuff Eatery: 5 different flavors of mayonnaise to try. (And beautiful in rainbow order!)

Honest Abe, still the same from the last time I saw him...


Hello landmarks of DC!


3rd longest escalator...in the world? Yes.



















God Bless America!























I should have won scrabble on this word alone!


There she is. And everywhere we turned: The Washington Monument!

gerda weissmann klein

Kat, Julie and I went to the Holocaust Museum this weekend while Kat and I were visiting. We watched this clip at the end of the tour about how Gerda Weissmann Klein met her husband Kurt Klein, an American soldier, on liberation day. This museum was both incredibly overwhelming and moving, something everyone should go visit at least once.



[I got this video from Katherine's blog, thanks Kat!]

ny2dc

I returned a few hours ago from a glorious weekend south of the Mason Dixon Line!

Katherine, Michelle and I took a quick trip down for the weekend to our nation's capital to visit friends. This was my fifth time to visit DC, and I have come to the conclusion that I will forever be enamored with this city. Its old southern charm, summers that feel like Alabama, and wonderful, accessible history of our nation made me (for only a second) wonder if I should just skip my bus back to NYC...






















More pictures to come from our quick 42-hour rendezvous in DC!

room with a view

I wish I had one of those... I was expecting some breathtaking, marvelous view from my hotel room, but unfortunately, I can only seen another office building. In the meantime, I'll just look at this photo from the hotel website:


The good news is that it actually does look like this the minute I walk out of my hotel room. And, I'm not complaining about that!

on a jet plane

Yep, that's right... technology is very cool these days. (I'm also probably a little behind since this isn't really a new thing.) I'm currently, "in" Wyoming, flying overhead at thousands and thousands of feet above land. It's 10 pm (NYC time) as I type this from seat 24F, and I'm looking out my window to a perfectly sunny, clear atmosphere that looks like it could be 3:00 in the afternoon. I'm confused...but excited for my journey out west!

back to it.





















Reality. Which, today, in my case means cold weather, snow and winter. I thought I had escaped yet another northeastern winter until next year, but it was only a tease. I'm leaving sunshine and mid-70's for snow, rain and low 30's. Hmph.

coolest vending machine ever

In an effort to get back to NYC amidst "Snowmageddon", I'm hanging out in the Atlanta airport waiting on my flight to board and get me back to the Big Apple tonight. Luckily for me, my flight is departing from terminal A which just so happens to be the terminal in which Chick Fil A is located. Not only do they have delicious food but they also have the coolest, most innovative fountain drink machine I have ever seen. 


Touch screen vending machine with 21 drink options. After selecting your initial choice, you are taken to a second screen with more choices (Coke: Coke Zero, Coke with Lime, Caffeine-Free Coke, etc...) This is the future of sodas...I love it! So space efficient and sleek.

wake up call

Ever heard one of those horror stories before about oversleeping and missing your flight? Well, I think I can say I'm more happy to have made it home today than I ever have been before. I had a 7 AM flight this morning out of LGA, in which I promptly woke up to my mom's phone call at 6:03 AM. In case you didn't know, you're supposed to arrive (at least!!) an hour before your flight departs, NOT WAKE UP an hour before! Amidst the fog and confusion of wondering why my mom was asking if I was at the airport, I quickly figured out what was going on and that I was in big trouble if I wanted to make it home today. When I finally came to, I kicked it into high gear and was out the door by 6:07 (yes, a personal best for me, by a long shot). I hopped in a cab and emphasized to the driver the extreme importance of taking the most efficient route, and in nothing short of a miracle, he did. I arrived at the airport at 6:30, only to find the security lines as long as I've seen them. I panicked again, until I saw a Delta attendant standing near the security lines. I decided I would ask her if she could relay to the plane that I was there and have them wait for me. Before I could get my entire question out, she had motioned for me to go through the First Class Security line- which was empty! I scooted through the first checkpoint of security, and then the second...until they stopped me and said they needed to do a more extensive check of my bag. Luckily that didn't take long and I ran up to my gate just as they were making the final boarding call for my flight. I made it...but just in the nick of time!

Thanks, Mom, for the wake up call!

i love owls from overseas

For my 21st birthday my junior year, my sweet roommates Katie and Amy gave me the most beautiful owl that they found while studying abroad in Italy the previous summer. It survived several dorm-room-moves, a move to New York, then a move to a second New York apartment where it now sits on my desk to serve as a reminder of my love for owls (duh!) and my greatly missed college roomies.

Now I have a second ethnic owl to add to my collection! My friend Maggie returned from her world travels on Monday and we spent Wednesday afternoon hanging out to catch up on her travels, my travels, and everything else in between since it had been over a month since we'd seen each other. And what a surprise: she brought me this adorable owl from Japan that is now sitting next to my Italian owl. Thanks Maggie, I love it!!