J-E-T-S Jets! Jets! Jets!

Me & Ryan

Dad & Ryan

Dad took Ryan and I to a Jets game on Thanksgiving weekend. We had a great time. The Jets didn't play so great - it was raining & slippery. Oh yeah, and the refs had to be at least mildly insane. ;-) But at least we had a good time!

10 Year Reunion

Mari, Me, and Elisabeth at the Reunion

The Friday after Thanksgiving was my 10 year high school reunion. I have to say, I was a little undecided about going. I'm not in touch with very many people from high school. Although I suppose I'm talking to a few more now because of facebook. But you never know how people are going to be. Will there be 10 year old pettiness? ('Cause I had had more than enough of that by the time some of it followed me to college) Would everyone be showing off about their accomplishments? Would it just be awkward?

It turns out that I wasn't the only one who had these worries - but it also turned out that there was no reason to worry. Everyone was great. I caught up with old friends and acquaintances. Met a spouse or two (although most people had left their significant others at home).

And generally, I had a great time. I recommend attending your 10 year reunion.

Japan

The last stop on my trip to Asia was Japan - where I spent time in Tokyo and Kyoto. Japan was my favorite place of the three I visited. The people were friendly, everything was clean, and organized, and logical, and well-run. It was pretty awesome. I took approximately a billion pictures in Japan, and I was there for over a week - so I saw a lot. I'll try to whittle it down to the highlights.

I went to Tokyo first. I saw Akihabra - the electronics district, Shibuya & the Tokyo Times Square, Harajuku and the crazy Japanese youngsters. There were also some great shrines. The really cool thing is that I managed to be there during the Japanese 3-5-7 holiday. During this holiday they dress up their 3 year old girls, 5 year old boys, and 7 year old girls in kimono and take them out to the shrines for pictures and blessings. They were adorable.


Akihabra - Electronics District


3-5-7 girl at Maji Shrine

Kyoto was next. Again, I was fantastically lucky. It turned out that the Japanese maples were changing into their fall colors, so the elaborate temple gardens were an absolute sight to behold.


Kinkaku-ji - one of the most breathtaking Temples


Ginkaku-ji had some of the most beautiful gardens

I stayed in a Ryokan in Kyoto - which is the closest you'll get to staying in a Japanese home (unless you find a japanese home to stay in) The Inn was run by three sisters, you leave your shoes at the door, and sleep on a futon on the floor. It was a great experience. And the service was wonderful. The people were very sweet and eager to help me.


Entrance to Three Sisters Inn


Real Zen Garden


Fushimi Inari Taisha

Japan - More Pictures

Beijing, China

The second week of my trip to Asia took me to Beijing, China. What a culture shock after Thailand. It was freezing cold, and the people were pretty rude. Also, almost no one spoke English, (And I only knew how to say please & thank you.) so that made for quite an adventure. I did have some fun shopping - although the aggressive salespeople at the markets were a little rough to deal with.

The pollution was pretty horrific. (You can see that in the olympic pictures below). It was thick enough that it looked like fog ... but it wasn't. I could smell it in my hair and in my clothes, and it was bad enough that it just felt hard to breathe after you'd been walking for a while. They certainly did quite a PR campaign at the olympics. I've heard that the sky really was as blue as it looked on TV - but that's only because they shut down the factories, forbade cars from driving in the city, and forced the sky to rain every night during the olympics. Amazing - the life in a communist country.

We made it to Tianenmen Square and the Forbidden City


And to the big olympic sites


But, the highlight was clearly the Great Wall. We rode a ski lift up to the wall, walked up & down along the wall for a bit, and then took a tobaggan down. It was awesome. In fact, the tobaggan was so awesome, that we went back up for another trip.


Self portrait on the great wall


view of the ski lift from above


The end of the luge

China - More Pictures

Bangkok, Thailand

I'm a little slow lately - I was traveling for the entire month of November, and with the Christmas season, it took me an unusually long time to get back to being normally functional. (Actually, I'm probably still not there yet.)

Anyway, the first stop on my November trip was to Bangkok, Thailand. I spent my entire birthday on a plane, but it was worth it for the traveling I got to do.

It was hotter n heck in Thailand. I was sweating like crazy - especially because I was trying to keep myself covered like the Thais do. It was in the 80s and 90s there, and all of the locals were in pants and polo shirts. I was dying for some shorts and tank tops, but I didn't want to stick out like a crazy lewd American either. The Thai people were very polite and friendly. And quite religious. There were Buddhist shrines outside of every hotel, and randomly located in the street. The concept, apparently, is that you stop to pray whenever. You don't just wait until a designated day of the week.



We saw quite a few amazingly ornate temples.



I had a great time learning about Thai culture, eating the food, and seeing the sights. I could have done without smelling some of the smells ... but I guess it's necessary to get the full experience. :)

Thailand - More Pictures

Time for Pumpkin Carving!

Did you know that most people don't make a tradition out of pumpkin carving? I am learning that now. My dad always said it was important for our little nuclear family to have its own traditions, and Pumpkin Carving at Halloween was one of them. My parents still do it if any of us kids are nearby - this year Christine was the only one close enough to participate.

Pumpkins by Mom, Christine & Dad

But even though Theresa & I were not part of the actual family event, we both called home (and each other) to live vicariously through the others. Back in the day Dad would take us to William's Nursery and each of the three girls would pick out their own pumpkin. I always wanted the biggest pumpkin I could find. Christine took the longest, searching for the perfect pumpkin. All I can remember about Theresa's pumpkins was that they were always small - she informs me that in fact she was looking for a pumpkin with one flat side, and "They had to be small, Dad made us each carry our own, and I was always smaller than you guys!".  Dad always picked out a pumpkin too - usually something with some personality.

When we got home Mom broke out the newspaper to cover the table, dad took a huge knife to cut the tops off of our pumpkins, and we all got to scooping out pumpkin gook. We collected all of the seeds in a big metal bowl in the middle of the table - and Mom worked on cleaning & baking the pumpkin seeds. 

It's so easy to make a family tradition, and it lives with you forever. Dad told me last night the he had called William's Nursery before he & Christine (25) went to pick up pumpkins, he wanted to be sure it wouldn't close before they got there. Upon learning that they would be open until 6 my Dad said to the woman on the phone: "Oh good, because my daughter really wants to pick out pumpkins so we can carve them tonight." The woman on the phone responded "Well, how old is your daughter? The pony rides stop at 5, and I wouldn't want you to get here as the last pony ride is ending and have your daughter be disappointed."

The "Piece de la Resistance"  was always the candle inside the pumpkin ... We might do this as soon as we finished the pumpkins, or just in time to put them out for Halloween night. 

I'm keeping the tradition alive in VA: This year I am determined. Ryan and I have already bought our pumpkins, now just to find the time to carve them ...

What is Your Strength?

At the gym last week there was a giant poster that I actually stopped to read. It said "What is your strength?" and it was covered in handwritten notes.

"My strength is my daughter"

"My strength is that I will never be fat again"

"My strength is God"

It was inspiring to see what gives other people strength, and it got me thinking about where my strength comes from. I think some of my strength comes from me - and from 'formative' experiences that I've had. But a lot of credit for formative experiences goes to my parents as well.

Simple Pleasures

On the radio this morning people were calling in about the things in life that are their simple pleasures. People talked about their old cars managing to start up in the morning, and their children, and other things that I can't remember. But I do remember that I enjoyed listening to it. It helps put things in perspective again, especially with the way I have been ridiculously stressed for the last two weeks. So here are some of my simple pleasures:

• Carving pumpkins at Halloween (more on this soon)
• dressing up - I've worn skirts & boots & makeup & jewelry for the last few days, and it always makes me feel good
• Crisp fall weather
• making plans with friends
• calling my family when I'm driving
• cuddling

I love Outlets

Outlet Shopping, I mean. Ashley & I went outlet shopping today, I discovered that the Outlets at Hagerstown are significantly more awesome than the ones at Leesburg. So there's some useful information, for all those of you who live in the DC area, like shopping, and read my blog (probably no one :).

It's a Love Story

"Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone,
I'll be waiting, all there's left to do is run
You'll be the prince, I'll be the princess
it's a love story, baby just say yes.
. . .
This love is difficult, but it's real, don't be afraid, we'll make it out of this mess.
. . .
I got tired of waiting
wondering if you were ever coming around.
My faith in you was fading
when i met you on the outskirts of town

and I said Romeo, save me, i've been feeling so alone
I keep waiting for you but you never come
is this in my head, i don't know what to think

He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring
and said, Marry me Juliet you never have to be alone
I love you and that's all i really know
I talked to your dad, go pick out a white dress
it's a love story Baby just say yes"
-Taylor Swift "Love Story"

Even after everything, I'm still a romantic.
I like this song. I like how it starts out hopeful, turns nervous & questioning, and just then becomes elated.

Speaking of Love Story - that's one of my favorite books. :)

When to Stop Reading

Some important advice from my Aunt Lynn:

"So the advice is read 50 pages to see if you like it and then quit if you don't? Or some people say, read 100 pages minus your age. Older people don't have as much time left to waste on bad books."

I learned (again) how valuable her advice was, after I forced myself to read all of Virginia Woolf's "Mrs. Dalloway".

Are you a reader? Check out goodreads.com - it's a social networking site (sort of) focused on books. You connect with your friends & write reviews for the books you read, then you get updates whenever any of your friends read a book, or add a book to their list. I'm loving it. I love tracking what I read, and I love seeing what my friends are reading - I've added a lot of interesting books to my list based on friends' recommendations. Goodreads came along at just the right time for me, when I was fed up with reading mediocre books because I just didn't know what to pick up next.

Whitewater Rafting

Last weekend I went with a group of friends to raft the Upper Gauley. It was pretty awesome.

pictures :)

Here's Ryan and I in our AMAZING rafting gear:

Sexy Sexy!

and a sample Action shot:

I'm second from the back, on the near side.

The Upper Gauley is supposedly the 2nd best river for rafting in the US, and the 7th best in the world. There are 5 class 5 rapids. And, to give you some perspective ... a class 7 is a rapid that no one has ever ridden and lived, a class 6 you can ride with extreme skill & luck ... and then there's class 5. So, it was pretty intense. I was definitely freaked out before I went, but it was one of those things that was on my list, and I've wanted to do it for years... so there's no way I was backing out. The guides really do a good job of keeping you in line, even if they do have fun dumping you in the river on purpose here and there. :) I highly recommend the experience!

Baltic Cruise: Bath, United Kingdom

Ok, so Bath wasn't technically part of the cruise, but it was part of the cruise trip. We took the bus back to london from Dover, and then the train out to Bath. The path took us through Reading ... look! there's proof!

Reading Train Station

I was really hoping we'd have time to stop in Reading and send a postcard to Ryan & his parents ... but we didn't have time. 

Bath was absolutely beautiful. The weather was nice, and the town was really cute.

View from the Bridge, on the way into town

Mom, Glamour Girl

At Lunch

We saw Portrait of a Lady at an old theater

We went to the Fashion Museum - which was pretty cool. There happened to be an exhibit on a designer who designed clothes for Marilyn Monroe. The best part of that exhibit was the fabulously gay tour guide - he was so enthusiastic and absolutely in awe of the clothing.  

Trying on corsets and hoop skirts at the Fashion Museum

Marilyn Monroe's Dress

The baths, of course, were a required stop. The exhibit was pretty extensive, with a lot of information about how they were actually used, and what life was like at that time.

Drinking the famous (gross and warm) spa water

Good thing beer rinses out the mouth ...

On our last day, we drove 

Yes ... Mom was totally nervous to have me driving on the left

to Stonehenge for special 'Stone Circle Access' tour. That meant that we actually got to go in and among the stones, which was really awesome. There were only about 10 of us in there at the same time, and we actually got to touch the stones. It was really cool.

Kissing the 'Face' Rock

Picking up Mom

The last stop before the airport was Salisbury

Salisbury Cathedral

I love cloisters :)

Another view of the cloisters

I guess this is it for this series of posts ... it was a pretty awesome trip.

Baltic Cruise: Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Amsterdam was awesome. It was overcast and chilly ... and I still loved it. There was so much to see.



Mom is Amsterdam!


On the riverbank where we ate lunch

We headed straight to the Reijksmuseum when we got to Amsterdam, which was under construction. I'm actually thankful we weren't there when it was in its full glory. The works of the museum were  condensed with the construction & they displayed only the Master Works ... and that was painful enough. I think I don't like old, dark, Dutch paintings of people I don't know. The Night Watchmen was the highlight of the tour.

After that we went to the Van Gogh museum which was packed ... and still absolutely amazing. It was probably one of the highlights of the entire cruise for me. Rooms and rooms of Van Gogh's art arranged chronologically, and with an audio tour to explain what was going on in his life as he was going through different stages in his artistic career. 
Finally, we went to the Anne Frank house - which was certainly sobering. It really tells a different story, when you are actually standing in the spaces where those families lived for so long.

Anne Frank, outside her temporary home.

Mom and I meandered our way back to the ship after that. We walked along the edge of the disappearing red light district and saw some interesting shops, and lots of 'coffee shops'.

One last thing I want to point out ... check out the shield of Amsterdam below. Notice the 3 X's? Those are St. Andrew's Crosses, and represent different things, depending on your source of information. But I just thought it was amusing, given Amsterdam's somewhat lewd reputation.

Baltic Cruise: Tallinn, Estonia

Tallinn wasn't one of those places that would have been on my travel list of places to see, but I really enjoyed it. It was a really cute old town, and the weather was beautiful, so that always helps. We ended up joining some of the other families on our cruise to do a bike tour, which was a lot of fun ... except for my butt. My butt was really unhappy. :)

Sunken Ship Memorial

The beautiful day

Presidential Palace, and me looking like a Giant Dork - it was kind of on purpose though, one can't help it when one is wearing such stylish clothing

'Fat Margaret' fortress walls outside Old Tallinn

Awesome Statue!

We toured an Open Air Museum on our bikes too ...

It's not better without the helmet, is it?

A view of a church in old town - the locals never took to the Russian Orthodox religion, but ironically, this church is what saved the city from heavy bombing in the war.

View over the city