BEST Loveless EVER

So a few weeks ago, we went to Bonnaroo (which I am making a half hearted attempt at drafting a blog post about because it was awesome). After Bonnaroo, there was a bit of time to soak up some of the local flavor of Tennessee, which is a southern state. I am from the part of New York which is almost Canada, also known as "not the south".

Will and Ming finally put on shirts and the four of us freshly showered former Bonnaroo’ers headed out to the Loveless Café for breakfast. The guy at the hotel desk had told me that Loveless was “overrated”, however we were not to be deterred as it was written up in “1000 Places to See Before You Die” and the brochure contained words of praise from both Al Roker and Willard Scott. I consider Al Roker and Willard Scott to be the most authoritative Today Show Personalities when it comes to all things eating.

Despite the lukewarm review from the guy at the front desk, Loveless did indeed have some damn good biscuits, which were made entirely from scratch. Loveless also was teeming with waitresses that had the good ole fashioned southern flair, saying things like “y’all” and “Dah’lin” which made the biscuits and sorghum omelets that much better…. although we still haven’t figured out exactly what "sorghum" is.

I’m assuming it’s a “southern thing”.

BEST Tree-hugger Movie EVER

Click on the box above to pledge to SEE THE TRUTH on opening weekend in your city (you will not be spammed). Your pledge will send a message to the world that global warming is a genuine threat to our planet. In return, Paramount Classics will donate 5% of ticket sales from An Inconvenient Truth to the Alliance for Climate Protection.

Staying true to the Organic eating, Yoga-practicing, Boho skirt-wearing, Bonnaroo-attending, pseudo-hippie style we aim to integrate into our otherwise yuppified life in the summer, Kimmmm and I spent our rainy Sunday evening seeing An Inconvenient Truth, commonly referred to as that Al Gore Sundance film. As it turns out, not only did Al Gore invent the internet, but he is also single-handedly saving the Earth from global warming.

It was not Earth-shattering news (no pun intended) that our selfish actions today are resulting in a depleted ozone layer, and thus, global warming; however, it was interesting to see how we are already dealing with the impact of global warming: Glaciers are melting, plants and animals are being forced from their habitat, and the number of severe storms and droughts is increasing. Since 1990, we have recorded the top 10 hottest years in history. There is also the devastating hurricane season the Southeast endured last year. As scientists look ahead at the rate the remaining glaciers and icecaps are melting, they predict major US shorelines to recede to the extent that San Fran and Manhattan would be under water.

In order to delay the drowning of some of our favorite vacation spots, there are a number of things we can do in our daily routine, such as unplugging appliances from outlets when they are not being used and walk, take mass transit, or drive a hybrid if you can. Click on this link for other energy saving tactics. While there, you can also calculate how much CO2 you're responsible for each year.

Okay, I will step down from my pedestal now. Thank you for letting me preach. Check out the movie, it's worth watching. Even if you are not a fan of documentaries or Mother Earth, it is worth watching the used to be the next President of the United States speak with the uncanny resemblance of Eeyore.

BEST American Gothic EVER

Seeing as how we both were in DC this weekend, Emily and I ventured down to the Renwick Gallery to see the Grant Wood Exhibit. For those of you who aren’t the biggest Grant Wood fans, he was a famous regional painter from Iowa during the 1920's and 1930's. You’ll probably know him best as the “guy who painted American Gothic”. I had read that the exhibit featured the painting American Gothic, which pretty much was the entire motivation for checking out the exhibit.

We’re wandering through Grant’s exhibit, doing the thing that you do when you go to galleries – oohh and ahhh’ing over pictures of his studio, his signature glasses, exclaiming over about 9,000 paintings of corn, etc when we get to the point of the exhibit where American Gothic should have been.

Instead of the actual painting hanging up, there is a POSTER of the painting with a little paragraph stating that the actual painting had been in DC but it had been returned to Chicago a week earlier!

BEST Saving Your Lady Parts EVER

Go to this link and order your FREE bracelet. It costs you nothing, but for every bracelet ordered, Merck Pharmaceuticals donates $1 to cervical cancer research. It only takes a minute - the link sends you right to the Merck website.

It would be great to get Merck to donate the "up to $100,000" they pledged!

Thanks to Kelli for providing the title of this post.

BEST Conspired Bouquet Toss EVER

Well, it's official. My little sister, Becky, tied the knot this past weekend.

A great time was had by all, thanks to the mastermind (my mom) behind the whole ordeal. And, perhaps the free-flowing mojitos had a little to do with it.

While the wedding and reception are always great times, the preparation seems to cause a lot of undue stress. This is why I have recently pronounced my desire for a "no-frills wedding." Perhaps on a mountain. Or on a beach in the Caribbean. Or Australia (you know, where I plan to meet my Aussie husband).

Anyhow, Kimmmmm is on board with this grand plan, and she has volunteered her culinary expertise to assist in my "no-frills wedding." She will be preparing her very best dishes, including a variety of Hot Pockets, pita and hummus, Buffalo wing dip, veggie burgers, rice, steamed vegetables, pizza bagels, and ice cream. Nothing but class. And, it's pretty fair to say that she has some time to perfect these delicacies before I will call upon her services.

Well, that's what I thought until Saturday night. It was time for the dreaded "let's see who's still single" part of the evening. That's right, the bouquet toss. Fortunately for me, most of the girls at the wedding were also single, so I was not the lone contender. Okay, onto the toss…. Becky turns away from the ladies. And I swear, in slow motion, it happened. Every other girl stepped back and in perfect aim, the bouquet floated straight into my arms. Yes, the girl who cannot commit to watching Lost has been deemed the next bride. Typically, the competitive streak in me would have thought of this as a "win." But when everybody else backs away to protect their destiny, is it really a win?

So, I did what any other single gal would do. I text Kimmmmm at Bonnaroo to tell her of the events that had just developed. Our correspondence went something like this:

Me: Guess who caught the bouquet? @&*#. Don't you worry. I'm still swingin' single.
Kimmmm: Sorry about the bouquet. I'll buy a case of Hot Pockets.

BEST Shaping the Young Minds of Tomorrow EVER

Do you remember when you were in school, and on occasion, a stranger would come in and teach something social studies-related for an hour? Well, I was that person for the past month. I volunteered with Junior Achievement, and I just finished teaching the last of five lessons to a third grade class in which they learned about the City. For those of you that are thinking of teaching or currently teach, here are a few memories/lessons I will take away with me:

(1) On my first day, within the first five minutes, a little boy vomited his breakfast all over his desk. He had eggs for breakfast.
I will not be having eggs anytime soon.

(2) I promised the kids a surprise if they behaved during class. The next thing I know, a little girl was saying, "You're so nice. You're so pretty."
Of course they got the surprise. Flattery will get you everywhere.

(3) After someone answered a question, I instinctively said, "Excelente!" Then, the following conversation took place:
Little girl: She speaks Spanish. (This is not true. I speak fluent Spanglish.)
Little boy: Oooooh.
Little girl: She looks Italian, but she's not. She's American. Sometimes she teases people into thinking she's Italian. (This girl is onto me!)

(4) During one of the activities, the children sat on the floor around me as I taught. At one point, I turned around to find a couple girls looking up my skirt.
Now, that's definitely a first.

(5) When the kids found out that it was my last class and that I would not be coming back after that day, they started shouting, "Noooooo" and ran up and threw their arms around me.
This Junior Achievement thing has done WONDERS for my ego. I'm kind of a big deal these days.

(6) During the last few minutes of the last class, the kids were extremely hyper. The actual teacher chimed in with "Quiet on 2. One. Two." Complete silence.
I couldn't help but think, so, this "Quiet on 2" thing would've been useful information FIVE CLASSES AGO!

(7) On the last day of class, the kids grabbed their pristine yearbooks and crowded around me to sign them.
I'm such an elementary school celeb. Why does that sound like something Michael Jackson would say?

BEST Last Shower for Four Days EVER

So, I'm about to hop into the shower, which will be my last shower for the next four days.

You're probably asking yourself , "why?!?!" right now.

The answer is because the time has come for one of the most anticipated events of Best Summer Evah!

BONNAROO 06

And thus begins four days of peace, love, Figel, and Tran

BEST Pride EVER

This past weekend, Phillip and Mike invited me to join them for a celebration of PRIDE in DC, a celebration of all things gay. As an alleged "gay man in training", I figured that this would be the perfect opportunity for me to soak up a few things... oh who am I kidding. It was really to drool over the dreamy dreamy DC Cowboys, rather than learn anything.

The parade was fun, Nation was fun (and not as scary as the first time I went there... I think it helped that last weekend wasn't Halloween), and the festival was a good time as well, especially because it featured the dreamy dreamy DC Cowboys. Plus I got to spend some quality time with both Phillip and Mike, which always makes me happy.

Here are a few photos from the parade....

The parade begins with some rainbow flags


How adorable is this?


Coco.... her milkshake brings all the 18 year old boys to the bar


Even though this joke has passed in many ways, I know that when you see this picture you just can't help but think to yourself "hee hee...bears". Please note: There is only a picture of the front of this float. What was in the back of the truck was somewhat disturbing.



The DC Cowboys! Phillip got a ton of free tickets to Remingtons from one of their friends. He's not pictured here, but the one to the far right on the float was HOT.



It was never really made clear what they were the Royal Family of.


So as you can see, a really good time was had by all! I wish that every weekend was PRIDE!

BEST Vision of Hope EVER

Every now and then, Kim and I find pride in our Firm's contributions to the community. As made quite evident in an earlier posting, this does not include cutting down trees in National Parks to "Take Pride in America".

This past weekend, I captained one of our Firm's Relay for Life teams. The event begins at 2pm on Saturday and extends until the closing ceremony held at 9am on Sunday. And, as much as I would love to, you are not required to continually walk the entire time you're there-- only as much or as little as you like. You receive donations in advance, so the number of miles walked or hours present are not directly tied to the money raised (please note that I clocked approx. 16 miles). All the donations benefit the American Cancer Society. When night falls on Saturday night, they conduct a luminiary ceremony to honor those that are currently suffering from or surviving cancer as well as those that have passed away. Candles line the track for those honored as well as spell out the word HOPE as shown below:

















During the closing ceremony on Sunday, they announced the event raised over $185,000! Of that amount, our Firm's teams had contributed donations of at least $65,000! I was pretty impressed and mighty proud of our accomplishment. I'm looking forward to participating in it next year, and if any of you are in the area and interested, I will definitely be contacting you! And, if you are not in the area to participate, ACS can always use the donations!

BEST Crabs EVER

So after traveling to our northern neighbor (Maryland) for work for the past couple of weeks, I decided that it was high time that I started to soak up the local culture of the place in a way that did not involve scream obscenities at other drivers.

Fortunately, I had the perfect opportunity this past Friday – Mike came to town and Phillip took us crab picking, which is not to be confused with crabbing. Crab picking is where you eat crabs, crabbing is where you actually catch them to then pick them. We packed up into the car and headed up to Annapolis, specifically Cantlers, where there was an “all you can eat crab special” for three hours.

This is what came to our table:


As you can see from the lunch tray and plastic cups, crab picking is not something that is very sophisticated. The process of picking is more of a sport than a meal. There's a lot of work involved and not much actual food. The way it works is the crabs come, and you dig in, with the aid of a small mallet. It turns out that underneath their hard shells, beyond all the mustard (also known as “guts” or “doody”), and underneath the lungs (which look like crab meat but aren’t), crabs are pretty delicious little buggers, especially when covered in butter and Old Bay. Carly and Phillip were pretty good sports about walking us through how to pick and Phillip but forth a strong effort with the whole “all you can eat” thing:


Mike and Carly dig in....



Kimmy's first crab....

All in all, a delicious night!

As a program note, crabs are not to be eaten as depicted above. If you want to learn how to properly pick a crab, and Phillip isn't available, you can check this out

BEST Breakfast-Beach-Thai Food-Movie-Beer EVER!

This past weekend, I ventured down to Sarasota, FL to visit Carrie. I haven’t seen her since I graduated, so it was high time to risk getting a third degree sunburn (which totally happened - look at my neck in the picture) and see her new digs in Sarasota. Justin, being over in Orlando decided to come over for the weekend too, making my trip to Florida a two for one plane ticket bonus!


Carrie and Justin have a routine, which they do when they are together. It is as follows:

- Breakfast at a greasy spoon
- Go to beach
- Eat thai food
- See a movie
- Drink beer

The routine is not completely set in stone however, Justin informed me that sometimes they mix it up and switch the order of “eat thai food” and “see a movie”. Also, there is a potential add on of “get icecream”.

Not wanting to disrupt their weekend routine, this is exactly what we did on Saturday – and it was a blast! Except for the sunburn that I managed to get, despite putting on SPF 30 sunscreen twice.

When I inquired about the Sunday routine, these crazy kids informed me that they went free form (gasp!), which led us to a Cuban place for lunch where we had one of the most divine mojitos I've had in my entire life.

All in all, a great trip and a great chance to see some great friends. I can't wait until the mini-OU-DC reunion in September.

BEST Proud to be an American EVER

Every once in a while, those of who live here in DC decide to abandon all of the political bull hooey that is life inside the Beltway and just fess up to the fact that we generally like our country. I attempted to reconnect with America (and put aside all of my grievances against the good ole U.S of A) by participating in Take Pride in America. Aside from being an excuse to sit in an office on a workday, Take Pride in America is the charity of our National Parks Service. Through the summer months, volunteers all across the country clean up and perform general maintenance on national parks.

As a frequent user of our national parks, I think that this is a good idea. Ordinary citizens pitching in and helping make the country a nicer place without looking for personal or political, something that is sometimes rare in this day and age.

Having said this however, I do have a bit of issue with the work that I actually performed. Emmmm and I decided to go free form and not be constrained by our assigned projects. There were several reasons for this, namely it was about 100 degrees and we were attempting to find a project which would not give us heat stroke. The first project was weeding, which was insect intensive and you were crouched over in the sun. The second project we went to was trash pickup, which was down by the river, therefore a cool breeze was blowing. Based on the contents of the trash I picked up however, I’m not sure if I would ever frequent the park we were at. Finds included used syringes, straws, small plastic bags, empty beer bottles, etc. It was basically all of the paraphernalia you would need if you were giving a speech to an 8th grade class about drug and alcohol abuse.

After the majority of the trash that wouldn’t give me hepatitis was picked up, I moved onto “tree removal”. That’s right, the national park service was having us remove trees to make way for a seawalk, which will look over to the new baseball stadium in DC, once constructed. So, as I am hauling branches up the Anacostia River bank, I can’t help but thing of the horrible horrible irony of the fact that while I started this day to reconnect with America, I was ending it by assisting others chop down trees for a park used primarily by herion addicts.

This of course, could not be the true ending to the day. After a few minutes of tree removal, I moved onto my final activity of the day, which incidentally ended up being my true calling….mulching.

BEST Ballpark Burger EVER

I was glancing through the metro express paper the other morning and came across the most disturbing news. And I'm not referring to the waging war in the Middle East, gasoline prices, or the fact that Britney Spears will bear another child...

A St. Louis minor league baseball team has introduced at its concession stands a bacon cheeseburger served between a Krispy Kreme donut, WCBS-TV reported. Gateway Grizzlies concession operators say the $4.50, 1,000-calorie "Krispy-Kreme Cheeseburger" is not meant to be eaten with ketchup; fans say it's better than expected.

Wait, wait, sorry I just threw up in my mouth a little bit. Did we not learn anything from the Burger King Breakfast sandwich that tried to cram every breakfast option into a single food item? -- pancakes, syrup, eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, a mild coronary, quadruple bypass, diabetes… It really begs the question why our country is obese.

Well, in case you do not make it to St. Louis this summer and you want to partake in the chest pains that will certainly ensue, try this recipe on for size:

1. Slice a Krispy Kreme glazed doughnut in half and grill both of the cut sides.
   Okay, that sounds reasonable
2. At the same time, grill a hamburger patty and two slices of bacon.
   Also reasonable
3. Top the patty with sharp Cheddar cheese and the bacon
   Chest pains starting
4. Slide the patty on top of the half of the doughnut, making sure the cut side is on the outside.
   Wait! Stop right there!
5. Top with the other half of doughnut, cut side facing up
   Can't breathe, can't breathe!
6. No ketchup or mustard needed
   As if you had to ask.

St. Louis… they love them some golden "arches."

BEST Rolling Thunder EVER

After watching one too many travel channel specials on Sturgis, the idea of “attend a motorcycle rally” has been on my mental list of “Things to do if you are in the area”. Well, just my luck, it turns out that one of these things came to my area. So, I went to see DC Rolling Thunder on Sunday.

Based on what I gleaned from my brief walkthrough, the history of Rolling Thunder is somewhat along these lines: A lot of people went to Vietnam and fought in the Vietnam War. And then they came home. Some of them bought motorcycles. On Memorial Day, they bring those motorcycles to DC from all over the country and walk around our National Mall with plastic cups full of beer. People who aren’t aware of this and who thought “oh I’ll have a nice memorial day weekend in our nations capital” spend the weekend walking around without any beer looking very very nervous.

Anyway, I did a walkthrough and checked out what appeared to my uneducated eye to be some pretty sweet rides. And of course, the people watching at an event like this is absolutely phenomenal. Aside from the sea of blue jeans and leather vests attire which I'm sure caused some to experience heat stroke in the 90+ degree heat, there were three t-shirts that are standouts:

The Classic: “If you can read this, the bitch fell off”
The Seductive: “If you treat me like an angel, I’ll be your little devil”
The Political: “To the Vietnam Protesters: 58,000 Dead Say F@#(& You”

So until next Memorial Day, I say to the Rolling Thunder… keep riding and t-shirt shopping!

BEST "Race" EVER

The term "race" has been thrown around a bit too loosely these days. This came to my attention as I participated in the National Race for the Cure. I wouldn't exactly classify myself as a "runner" because I have never been formerly trained; however, I've been known to jog outdoors (especially recently as I am still a little nervous about joining Roids with Kimmmmm and forced to do the juice). Nonetheless, I am prepared to jog a 5K on a whim.

Anyhow, this alleged "race" is complete anarchy. In theory, it sounds like a great event because it's a relatively flat course with the monuments in the backdrop, it supports the search for a cure for breast cancer, Condi Rice was there to provide some token words of encouragement or something to that effect, blah blah blah. But once the race begins, it's a good five minutes until you can even begin jogging, much less "racing." In unison, the crowd takes a few steps, then comes to a screeching hault, reminding me a lot of my former commute on the Beltway. An enormous timer is located at every mile-marker, so you can keep an eye on your time. To put this "race" in perspective, my first mile that included the four minutes of zigzagging around the walkers clocked 11:30 (yes, approximately the time it takes me to WALK a mile), while I passed the second mile-marker at about 19 minutes. So, basically I went from an 11 1/2 minute mile to about a 7 1/2 - 8 minute mile as the dense crowd broke apart.

I digress. Overall, it really is a great event.

One of my other favorite moments is as you end the race, they direct you to the National Mall where all the sponsors are located and handing out goodies. I grabbed a bottled water and started walking around. I spotted an enormous Yoplait truck surrounded by others that had also finished the race. I like my daily dose of calcium as much as the next gal, but the idea of gulping down any sort of dairy product after running a 5K in June is not the least bit appetizing. Even as I sit here writing this, hours after the event has ended, my stomach still churns at the idea of yogurt after running. Instead, I visited some of the other tents, and am now a proud owner of a yellow baseball cap with a pink ribbon on it (sponsored by McDonalds), two pink ribbon pins (one from Ford, another from McDs), a pink scarf (which actually came in handy to keep my hair back when it rained on my way home, and postcards to send out to everyone to remind them to do a self breast-exam. Yeah, those postcards won't be AWKWARD at all... Dear Friend, Hope you are enjoying your summer. And by the way, the next time you're in the shower, remember to feel for lumps....

I continued to walk up the Mall and decided that I would rather die than enter that overcrowded sardine case they like to call a metro after an event like this. So, I found myself walking another 4-5 miles all the way home. And that's the way I roll-- a true nomad at heart. You will find that Kimmmm and I try to embrace our inner-hippie, especially in the summer. We're looking forward to sporting the backless tanks at work.

BEST Crystal Addiction EVER

Not that kind of Crystal.

Now that summer is here where we become accustomed to global warming and 100-degree + temperatures in the mid-Atlantic region, it's time to start hydrating. I've always been a huge water fan, and I recently discovered the secret to masking the "flavor" of DC water.

Have you seen those little packets of Crystal Light or Lipton Green Tea packets for individual use? I found that if you add those packets to the water, it disguises the foul taste. I know, I know. I'm such a sucker for marketing.


Unfortunately, I do not believe it can combat the lead and rocket fuel that is also found in the water. Mmmmm, lead.