25 Things

I saw this yesterday on a blog that I read and I liked it, so here goes!

1. Where would you be able to spend hours and be happy? Outside, either at the beach or relaxing under a shady tree with a book of course!
2. What’s your favorite kind of doughnut? CHOCOLATE!
3. Do you have any tattoos or piercings? No tattoos, and only my ears pierced, two in each ear and my cartilage of my right ear
4. What is your favorite movie? Hmmmm, I’m not sure. A few of my favorites are The Wizard of Oz, Matilda, You Me & Dupree, Legally Blonde, and A League of Their Own
5. Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone? My mom
6. Are you still friends with the people you knew in middle school or high school? A couple, including my BFF – we’ve been friends since 6^th grade!
7. What is the last thing you ate? Yogurt with fresh strawberries, topped with Fiber One Cereal
8. What did you want to be when you grew up? Almost everything from a nail technician to a doctor, from a professional soccer player to a writer
9. Name three things that are close to you: My coffee cup, my purse, my Scrabble-a-day Calendar
10. What was your best subject in school? Math, but I ended up as an English major…weird
11. What is your favorite restaurant? For Italian Andrea’s (obvi), for Mexican El Grand Rodeo – but I’m not picky, I love to eat!
12. Any hidden talents? I am weirdly good at bocce
13. What is your middle name? I don’t have one! But my Confirmation name is Elizabeth
14. What is your favorite website? I’m a recent blogaholic, so any interesting or funny blogs. Also Sporcle, but I can spend a lot of time on a lot of sites :)
15. How old were you when you had your first kiss? 16
16. Chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate.
17. What is your favorite girl’s name? Favorite boy’s name? Emily and Jack.
18. Favorite store? Anne Taylor Loft, Barnes and Noble.
19. Would you rather be a rock star or a famous athlete? Rock star.
20. Favorite food? Mexican
21. What are you wearing right now? Jeans, black slides, purple shirt with a floral pattern with an open knit cardigan over it (I love me some cardigans!)
22. What is your favorite animal? Dog! But cats are a close second!
23. Did you graduate from college? Yes, from UVA, class of 2009! And I miss it everyday!
24. What does your last text message say? To my friend about Zumba class – “I’m super excited for tomorrow!”
25. Do you have any nicknames? Not a one!

Confession Time

I've been lying to you, my dear blog readers, and I just can't take it anymore! There's something about me that I think I've been hiding, but no more!

I'm an addict. A TV-aholic, actually. But I'm not a casual TV watcher. I pride myself in saying that my tastes are more, ummmmmm, refined.....


Ever since the first season of Survivor was over, reality TV has lost its charm for me. I can't stand the fact that for a lot of them, you don't even need to watch the show to know what's going on. For instance, I have never seen an entire episode of the show that I hate more than anything else on TV (including the O'Reilley Factor), American Idol, I bet that I could name most of the "Idols." Why watch if its going to be all over the news? I'll just catch the news where not only will I get my Idol updates, but also actual real news so I can actually be an informed and intellectual member of society (although I do enjoy watching America's Next Top Model, I mean how dumb is Tyra Banks).

I like drama shows much better than any reality TV. For one, I never feel like I'm more stupid after sitting down for an episode of CSI (well except maybe CSI: Miami). I used to be head over heels in love with Grey's Anatomy - my love affair with the show ended as a result of the writers strike back in 2008, it was like a 12 step program for my obsession with a Dr. McDreamy (coincidentally, the writers' strike only strengthened my love affair with certain sitcoms starring Bea Arthur and Betty White...)



My biggest problem with drama on TV is that it comes in one of two forms: soaps or crime/police/CSI/someone died shows. I actually really like night time soaps a la Grey's and (once upon a time ago) Lost. But its insanely hard to catch up if you miss an ep, which happens, especially right now, so they're not happening in my life right now. And the crime/police/CIS/someone died variety scare me and creep me out. I saw one episode of Criminal Minds, just one time, I was so freaking freaked out because it was something right out of my WORST NIGHTMARES - someone hiding in my closet before they attack and kill me. Yikes.

But sitcoms, they're perfect. I love them. They make my soul happy. Sitcoms are so neat and tidy - a (typically) minor conflict is presented, dealt with, and resolved - all in a half hour! And, its funny! Just what I need at the end of the day!

My addiction started early. See, my parents are TV-aholics too. (Maybe its genetic...I can just picture my ancestors watching Little House on the Prairie in their little house on the prairie) Growing up, I remember that a lot of school nights were also TV show nights. Tuesday was Roseanne, Thursday was Seinfeld, yadda yadda yadda (I know, I'm so clever it hurts).

A healthy dose of Friends,Will & Grace, and many other shows of the late 90's early 00's have helped shape my current TV viewing trends. Now How I Met Your Mother, Modern Family, The Office, and 30 Rock keep me laughing.

In case you have no idea what I'm talking about:

How I Met Your Mother (Mondays, CBS, 8:00) - Main character Ted Mosby is telling his children in the year 2030 the story of how he met their mother (now its a 5 season long story). A combination of Friends and Seinfeld, this show is funny, I love how it "rewards" long time watchers by bringing up old jokes, yet is still hilarious for first time viewers! Neil Patrick Harris is the scene stealer as the sometimes gross but always funny Barney Stinson (Really, he's legen-wait for it- dary).



Modern Family (Wednesdays, ABC, 9:00) - Its documentary-esque story about a modern family. I can't even begin to describe how much I love this show. Each character is so weird and wacky in a way that is totally realistic. Its about patriarch Jay and his two kids (Claire and Mitchell) and each of their own families. Jay's remarried and has a stepson, Claire has three kids and a certifiably insane husband, and Mitchell and his partner just adopted a baby from Vietnam. What I love most about this show is the fact that they all love each other. A lot. Thick and thin, no matter what, they're there for each other in a way that is so heartwarming and endearing.



The Office (Thursday, NBC, 9:00) - The premise of the show is this: Steve Carrell's Michael Scott is the regional manager of a mid-level paper company. He is also a moron. Hilarity ensues. Also enjoyable is the love story between Jim and Pam and the completely off-beat personalities like Andy Bernard and Dwight Shrute, who remind you just a little too much about your own co-workers.



30 Rock (Thursday, NBC, 9:30) - With The Office, 30 Rock helps make up NBC's "must see TV" Thursday night lineup (the other two shows Community and Parks and Recreation are also hilarious and which I also highly recommend).



Just thinking about these shows makes me smile.

Some might see my family's addiction to sitcoms as a negative thing, but I think its a good thing. It makes us red-blooded Americans. They make us laugh and they make us happy, which really can't be such a bad thing, can it?

I hope you take my recommendations to heart....I really don't think you'll be disappointed. Plus all of that extra laughing is a great core work-out (although it might help speed up the onset of the laugh lines).

Well, I better run, Modern Family is going to be on in a few minutes. Tune in!

Welcome to Chucktown!

Last weekend my mom and I went down to Charleston, SC to check out the Charleston School of Law where I might be living for the next few years (as in living at the library).
My aunt lives just outside Charleston so we stayed with her, my uncle, and cousin.  I hadn't seen them in almost 2 years, so it was nice to get to hang out with everyone, especially my cousin Ellen.  Of all of my cousins she's the baby, so I couldn't believe it when I found out that she's driving!!!!   

And honestly, she's a good driver.  She drove us to dinner one night and I never felt like I was going to die while she was driving - not like  I have with some other, new drivers - *cough, Matthew, cough, cough*


But I'm getting ahead of myself.  


My mom and I headed out of Chesapeake on Thursday.  One bad thing about Charleston is that it is one long, boring drive away.  I had my camera out for most of the trip so I could do another Traffic Cam post, but didn't see much besides trees, fields, and cars from Quebec (I think Quebecians must migrate south mid-April).


Since its practically family tradition, we stopped at South of the Border on the way down.  That place is so old and decrepit - I wonder if it ever made any money.  (I think that  in-car DVD players were the final nail in the coffin of that tourist trap because they take kids attention away from the billion signs counting down to Pedro's.)  I don't think this place has been renovated/updated since about 1976 - they didn't even have a computerized cash register!  Paper and pencil all the way (I may or may not have bought my dad a key chain that is a bottle opener/corkscrew for only $2 - what a bargain!)!


When we finally got my aunt's I found out that my uncle and cousin love, love, love The Office.  They even had the British version on DVD, which is so funny!  The Jim character (Tim) is not nearly as cute as John Krasinsky, but the Dwight character (Gareth Kennan) is just as funny and weird as Dwight K. Shrute!  


Friday was my appointment with the school.  I sat in on a class and took a tour.  Its relatively new, small, and right in the heart of the city.  Even though its why we took the trip, I don't want to get bogged down in the logistics of choosing a law school here - that would be no fun - especially when there's lots of good shopping to talk about!  

Like I mentioned, the school is on King Street, which my tour guide informed me is the heart of the city - good bars/restaurants to the north, good shopping to the south.   After the tour my mom and I walked around downtown Charleston.  I was surprised at how much of a city it is.  I guess I was expecting it to be kind of like the "city" of Chesapeake, or at least comparable to Norfolk, but its more built up than either one. 


I was surprised by how much Charleston reminded me of Charlottesville (I actually kept calling it Charlottesville, whoops!), but its more like Charlottesville on steroids.  Like Charlottesville, Charleston is historic and walker friendly but its so much bigger than the home of my alma mater.  I actually think Charleston's a little trendier than Charlottesville, but I also think the population is more diverse so it can support all of that trendiness.  And honestly, its beautiful.  The homes are gorgeous, old and historic.  And its right on the water.

It looks like just about everyone down there is rolling in money, like they have so much money that they having nothing else to do with it other than spend it in every way possible - maintaining lavish homes and lifestyles, owning a boat, opening trendy restaurants/shops, and embracing the yuppie lifestyle.  I liked it.  I know I won't have much money when I'm down there, but I think you could do a lot worse than hanging around with a bunch of  yuppies.  


Friday night my aunt took us to this restaurant on Sullivan's Island (a barrier island of Charleston).  This is the island where Hootie, aka Darius Rucker, of Hootie and the Blowfish fame lives.  Unfortunately we did not see Hootie, which is probably a good thing since music-wise, I'm stuck in 1995 and cannot get enough of these guys.


Anyway, the restaurant we went to was really cool.  It was called Poe's Tavern.  And get this - the whole restaurant is Edgar Allen Poe themed.  There are posters of him and movie posters for the film adaptations of his work hanging everywhere.  Poe's specializes in specialty burgers and chicken sandwiches.  I had a chicken sandwich topped with buffalo shrimp and bleu cheese sauce, so yummy!  Even the menu was Poe themed!  All of the dishes were named things like The Tell-Tale Heart and The Pendulum.  

I know this is going to sound weird, but the best part was the bathroom.  They had taken pages from his stories and plastered them all over the walls in lieu of wall paper.  It was chaotic but thought out, just like Poe's work (what a coincidence...). The whole experience was enough to make this geeky English major's heart go pitter-patter.  


Saturday we headed back to the city with my aunt and cousin.  It was fun.  Lots of shopping and walking around.  We had $3 margaritas (yummy), played with the iPad, and scouted out cute guys (oh Ellen, when you're 21 we'll have such fun drinking together!).  My aunt showed us more of the city.  It really is a beautiful town.


I have some pictures from our trip, but haven't loaded them onto my computer yet.  So I'll save those for another post!  






ps.  This has literally taken me four five days to write.  What can I say?  Pride and Prejudice kind of trumps blogging right now, Mr. Darcy is making my heart go pitter-patter all over again....

I'm back!

I'm back from my weekend adventures in Charleston, SC.

I have a lot to blog about and a lot of work to catch up on.

I'll try to get blogging this evening but here's a little peek of the Southern city:

Packing, ugh...

I am not a neat packer. I am not an efficient packer. Give me a suitcase and I'll show you exactly what I mean. I see these demos on TV where "experts" demonstrate how to pack the "perfect suitcase."

1. Roll up the underwear, ball up the socks, stick them in the shoes. Check and check
2. Layers are key. Check
3. Wear your heaviest clothes. (Check-ish; heavy clothes aren't fun to wear in the car, especially when your dad hates to use the AC for whatever reason he may have)
4. Downsize toiletries. Check

Easy stuff right? Not for me. So what are my problems with this list?

First of all, it doesn't take into account pets who pack themselves along with your stuff:





I mean, really, what am I supposed to do when my girls literally pack themselves in with my clothes?

Once I clear the girls out of my room and out of my suitcase another problem arises. I pack way too much stuff. I start playing the What If game. What if its hot? What if its cold? What if we decide to go swimming? What if I want to go running? What if I'm having a bad hair day? What if I decide that pink really isn't my color?

So once I'm finally satisfied with what I've packed I have four pairs of pants/shorts, 7 shirts, 8 pairs of socks, 2 sets of pajamas, and 6 pairs of shoes for an weekend trip. This is to say nothing of the massive amount of toiletries that also find their way into my bag (including but not limited to make-up, shampoo/conditioner, hair dryer, hot rollers, and face wash).

I bring this up because my mom and I are planning to go to Charleston, SC this weekend. We're going to check out Charleston School of Law to see if its the kind of place I'd like to spend the next three years of my life. As a bonus, my aunt and cousins live just outside of Charleston. So I'll get to hang out with one of my favorite cousins - hey Ellen! (my other cousin Kerry is at UGA so she won't be there this weekend, bummer!).

Even though we're only going to be there for four days the bag that I have to pack is looming large - what to bring?

Shakin' What My Mama Gave Me

Tonight I tried something new - Zumba! I went with my friend Ginny, who is my BFF Meredith's older sister. Zumba is an aerobic exercise inspired by Latin dance. Think salsa/mambo/rumba combined with squats, lunges, and arm toning exercises

Getting into the class was super intense. Apparently the teacher on Tuesday nights is one of the best around, so they hold the class in the gym at the YMCA which holds between 60 and 70 people. But she's better than that - not only is the class held in the biggest room available, you also have to call to reserve a spot the day before. When I called yesterday at approximately 7:10 AM, I was number 23 to save a spot. CRA-ZEE!

Then when you get to the Y, they give you a token that shows that you did, in fact, call in to reserve a spot. Right before class starts someone walks around and collects them all. Apparently if you don't have a token, they give you the boot.

Then the music started. My hips started swinging. I tried to keep up but I'm pretty sure I utterly failed, but I had fun. The hour went by really, really fast. And I had a smile on my face for most of the class. I'm sure I looked like a fool, but at least I looked like a fool having the time of my life.

I might not go every week, but I'll definitely be back. I'm all for anything that will make my booty smaller as I shake it!

New Kicks

I finally got some new running shoes. My old New Balances, while super cute and pink, were three years old and had all of the cushioning stomped out of them. Those poor New Balances suffered through my older and more recent forays into the world of exercise. Step classes, pilates, elliptical machines, running, spinning, and even the occasional hike. I put a lot of miles into those shoes.

A few weeks ago for my birthday, I got a gift certificate to Running Etc., the local running store for Hampton Roads. I finally had a free afternoon, so I headed out to VA Beach with my running buddy Kathryn.

I had never even been to a running specific store, much less ever been fitted for new sneaks. If you've never done it, you run in your old shoes and in socks; then they measure your feet and try on all different makes and models of shoes. I was happy to hear that I was actually wearing a good shoe for the type of foot I have - so I wasn't hurting my feet. I tried on 5 pairs: one Nike, two New Balances, one Asics, and one pair of Sauconys.

I was pretty tempted to buy the prettiest pair - purple New Balances. But I tried them all on and I tried them all out. Even though they weren't the cutest pair, the Saucony's felt the best, so that's what I got!









I'm so excited about them! I don't want to use them for anything but running, so I didn't wear the to spinning tonight. And it means that more than likely I'm going to buy another pair of new sneakers to do other, non-running things in. They're super comfy and nice and white and shiny!

Book Review: Such a Pretty Fat

This book, written by Jen Lancaster (who writes the often hilarious blog Jennsylvania), tells the story of Jen on a diet. If you are unfamiliar with Jen's blog, you should really check it out. Its funny, she's funny, and this book was funny. There were passages where I literally lol-ed.



In Jen, I found a narrator who I really related to. Losing weight is tough business as I or the first 200 pages of this book can attest to. She makes light of a heavy subject (hehe).

She tries Atkins several times and winds up dreaming of cookies. She is assigned a personal trainer named Barbie. She avoids the scale. She's a real, live dieter (I think the fact that this is a memoir might help that last one). Even though she's not 100% successful or dedicated to a lot of the things she tries, she's always honest with us, her readers.

I think this book is almost a "must read" for anyone who has ever dieted, is currently dieting, has successfully dieted in the past, unsuccessfully dieted in the past, thinks they will diet in the future, avoids the scale, has a love/hate relationship with all things junk food, those who have used their weight as an excuse to do or not do something, those who hate the gym, those that fear the gym, those that used to hate/fear the gym but now love it, and those who need a kick in the hiney to get their rear in gear.

My least favorite thing about the book was her husband Fletch, who comes across (at least in my opinion) as a HUGE jackass. Luckily we don't have to deal with him too much, and when we do, its not for too long. When I did have to deal with him, I usually just called him a jackass and moved on.

You should read this book. Really, you should.

I've been on a huge reading frenzy lately. I've even been foregoing sleep to read (but not TV, that would be crazy). Right now I'm re-reading Pride and Prejudice. I don't think I got it the last time I read it since I was probably 14 or so. I'm already enjoying it a lot more than I did before and I'm only on page 12. Revisiting the classics is nice once in a while. I think I may have a date with my pal Mr. Whitman once Jane and I have finished our visit.

Weekly Weigh In

Its that time again! Thursday weigh in!

This week only down .2, but .2 is .2, and those add up! Plus after my big loss last week, I wasn't expecting another significant loss.

So here are the updated stats!

This week: -.2
Total: 19.4

I'm going to take down the big two-oh before you know it!

A couple other weight-loss related things:

1. My Bender Ball - first week of my 30 day challenge went really well! I did it like 5 out of 7 days. But I don't think I've touched it since then....so....who knows?!?!
   
2. This week was kind of hard Weight Watchers wise - I mean life got in the way. I had stuff going on, I was busy. And its not an excuse, I literally ran out of time. I ate fine, but I didn't have time to exercise like I like to (at least living with my parents has one good benefit) which brings me to...
3. Running. It is almost all mental. And I have been letting my mind win. As in, I have no race coming up, so why bother or even try. Which means I need to sign up for something pronto, namely the Wounded Warrior 5k.
4. Since its been nice and warm, I decided to wear a pair of dressy Bermuda shorts to work yesterday. I go to pull them on and realize that they are HUGE on me! Like I could pull them on and take them off without unbuttoning them. They look like Jared's before and after pictures on the Subway diet. Ok, well maybe not exactly since I've only lost 19 pounds and he lost more than 100...
5. And finally, my arms are looking gooooooood. Toned and strong. My legs are shaping up. I feel a lot less like a beached whale. I think these are all good things.

In other news, I've kind of been neglecting my blog. Its been busy at work and I've been reading a lot, more than I've been blogging. I have lots to write about, I just need to put fingers to keyboard and get them out.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading!

An Ode to Spring Break

This week is spring break for high school students across America, including my little brother. This is Matthew's senior year, so its his last high school spring break. If his luck with college spring breaks is anything like mine, this will probably be his last spring break that isn't spoiled with snow and cold weather and the impending gloom of late midterms that cast a dark shadow over what should be a week of freedom, relaxation, and sunshine.

Sadly (at least for this week), I'm not in high school anymore. Even more sadly, I'm not in college anymore either. So no more spring break for me.

But the weather's been warm and sunny. More like the beginning of summer than the beginning of spring. The air's been warm but dry, not marked with the humidity that is the hallmark of mid to late summer in Tidewater Virginia. All of the flowers are in bloom and pollen is in full-force, adding a springy, yellow tint to everything it touches (it hasn't attacked my sinuses yet, so as of right now I'm ok with all of the pollen).

All of this got me thinking about what was, hands down, one of my favorite spring breaks. I was a sophomore in high school, just turned 16. I didn't have my driver's license yet, but my BFF Meredith had just gotten hers.

Like all sane 16 year olds who live within 20 miles of the ocean, we were beach-bound that spring break. With her license, Meredith had earned the right to use the family clunker, a 1983 yellow Volvo. That car had no A/C, no cup holders, and couldn't really go faster than 50 mph, but it was our ticket to freedom.

Before leaving, we'd each scrounge up a couple of bucks. First stop was the gas station where we'd pump just enough gas to get us safely to the beach and home again. Then we hit the road - windows down, wind in our hair, CD player turned up all the way, blasting out Carole King's Tapestry over the sound of the wind whipping by our ears.

Once we were at the beach, we'd lay out in the sun, trying to get a jump on our summer tans. I do remember literally taking the plunge and swimming one day. I don't care what anyone says, or how warm the air is, the Atlantic Ocean in April in Virginia, is COLD.

After a few hours we'd head for home, stopping only for Slurpees or if the bridge was open. Just thinking about those days makes me smile, and maybe just a little happy.

Even though I can't take part in spring break this year, I wish everyone who is enjoying their time off, fun times, tons of sun, and wonderful memories with the best friends you could hope for.