What makes me holla!

In continuing with our Cape Cod adventure, I thought I would post this. Quite hilarious. It especially rings true after spending a week in New England. This may, in fact, be my calling. As Elizabeth pointed out, I do love both gangstas and preppy pastels. Oh, how I heart New England!

If you would like to learn more "Prepsta" tea partay rules, including appropriate prepsta signs, go to www.teapartay.com. Enjoy! And holla back!

A spoonful of sugar makes the humility go down

Several weeks ago, I ran into an old high school friend. It was one of those it's-a-small-world-after-all moments, where this person happened to recognize me and once he came over, I instantly recognized him. We've all been there, and it never loses it's coolness.

This one did, though. We met up later that night at a bar where we caught up on the last nine years (has it really been nine years?) of our life. Rather, he caught me up on the past nine years of his life and I just listened. He told me all about his accomplishments, about which graduate school he went to, about who he married, about how he got into Duke but decided to go elsewhere, about how going to his undergrad was the best thing that happened to him, although at the time he didn't think so, and on. And on.

At the time, I wanted to scream. I have very few pet peeves, but the biggest is people who aren't humble. Who think they are God's gift to humanity and think everyone needs to know about it. I value humility over many things. In fact, it may be the number one thing that's most important to me in a friend and mentor.

Looking back at this now, I realize something more. As I've vented before, I am conditioned by my mother to not be happy, but I know now that I am. There is a lot more I'd like to accomplish with my life and I hope to one day get there. But right here, right now, I am happy with where I've gone and who I am. During the update from this old friend, I never really felt the need to fill him in on me. It wasn't important that he knew. It was only important that I did.

It's something so simple. And many times we get caught up with other things in our life that we don't stop and take inventory. I know I didn't. Not until a lack of humility angered me. It was then that I realized that I may not be much. I may not have reached all my goals. I may have a whole lot more to improve upon. But importantly, I am happy. Isn't that the meaning of life?

A Whale of a Tale

Here are pictures from the Cape! This first one is of me and Scott on our whalewatching expedition, off the tip of Cape Cod. We saw tons of whales, and even a mommy and baby whale (which wasn't so baby-sized proportioned!). Lots of dolphins and dolphin calves swam around the boat, too. I didn't think we'd see as much sealife as we did! Awesome to think that creatures that large inhabit such a different world...one that we cannot even imagine.

All that whalewatching made us a bit hungry, so we indulged in a little lobster treat (I ate nothing but seafood on the trip, trying to get my fill while it was still fresh). Abby and I posing with our little lobster friends. They were delish!

We spend one day on Martha's Vineyard, and explored the island with mopeds. Our trusty chauffers were Scott and Nathan, sporting their very fashionable head gear (get your fash' on). Abby and I brought spousal trust to a whole new level by riding on the back with them. Here, we had just finished a winery tour on the island. Good thing there were no checkpoints on the island.

We spent another day on Nantucket, by far our favorite visit of the week. This is at Brandt Point, on the north end of the island. The foursome, living it up!

Are those matching Nantucket shirts, you ask? Why, yes they are. They are "whale vintage", as I've named them. Who doesn't love a good whale shirt? Just a little momento to remember the trip by, in front of our B&B, which was absolutely adorable.

Oh, the insanity!

Elizabeth got me hooked on Project Runway this season, and so I looked forward to continuing the reality-show-watching bliss when I returned to the grand ol' state of North Carolina. However, something is seriously wrong. The state of North Carolina, or at least the county of Durham, does not get the Bravo channel! I've searched all of our digital cable TV stations, and not one of them is Bravo! How can this be?

No longer do I get to hear Heidi "Auf" a contestant. No longer can I watch the drama unfold as Kayne designs another winning dress. No longer do I get to hear Tim's mentoring comments on the designers, er, designs.

I'm resigned to getting my updates via MSNBC and on the show's website. It will never be the same. I WANT MY BRAVO!

There once was a man from Nantucket

After 15 1/2 hours of traveling yesterday, we returned from Cape Cod. The trip should have been about 4 hours shorter, but we hit traffic in NYC. And the Jersey Turnpike. And Delaware. And DC. And Richmond. Damn tolls.

We had a blast at the Cape, but our favorite, by far, was Nantucket. Cobble-stone streets, cute shops, adorable B&Bs at every corner, beautiful sailboats, yachts of the rich and famous. The island had so much character and when we return, it'll be to stay at Nantucket.

We spent a lot of time at the beach and even drove mopeds around Martha's Vineyard. Plus, we got to spend it with two of our favorite people - Abby and Nathan. It was a vacation that both Scott and I needed. And now it's back to work (for him) and school (for me).

Pictures will be uploaded in the coming days!

I heart NY (and New England)

Ten weeks has truly flown by. It doesn't seem that long ago when I was posting here, saying goodbye to NC and my husband. And now, I'm saying goodbye to NY/CT and my friends. It's just as hard this go around as it was the last one.

I didn't think I would like it up here as much as I have. I've always loved the New England area, but I was one of those people who said I loved to visit NYC, but could never live there. My stance has changed. I could definitely live in NYC.

Not only did I love my internship and love living with my best friend, but I also did a lot in ten weeks:

• Visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art (twice)
• Visited the MoMA
• Saw The Color Purple and Avenue Q on Broadway and The Squirrel off-Broadway
• Drank wine and ate cheese in Central Park while listening to the NY Philharmonic
• Bought $147 pair of jeans in Bloomingdales
• Spent a night at The Library Hotel (a "goal" of mine for some time)
• Shopped in SoHo, Fifth Avenue, and Madison Avenue
• Saw Larry King in person
• Lay face-down on 53rd Street because lobster and wine do not mix
• Ate lunch at Saks Fifth Avenue
• Visited Little Italy and ate at Ferrara's
• Took a ferry to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
• Bought my sister a drink in Greenwich Village
• Day-tripped to cute Mystic, CT
• Visited the Chihuly exhibit at the NY Botanical Gardens

And, most importantly, I realized my goal of learning Manhattan and what it means when someone says "I live on 84th and 5th" (that they're rich).

I'm going to miss the charm and the hubbub of New England and NYC. And it was hard to leave the internship - where I felt I fit in and really enjoyed the work. But maybe someday. For now, I'll just have to be content to visit.

So goodbye, NYC. Goodbye New England. I loved our summer romance and I will think of you often. Maybe one day, when the time is right, we will be together again. Until then, all my love.

The state of our nation

I wandered into Borders today, one of my favorite havens, to purchase some reading materials for our upcoming Cape Cod trip. Hoping to score some good magazines, I went to the magazine stacks and started with the "Business" section.

Which magazines were on the top shelf - prime retail selling space, I might add - in the "Business" section? Why, of course, People, US Weekly, The Enquirer, et al. I am not kidding. I know that Brittany Spears' pregnancy is newsworthy, but it's now considered Business?

So I turned the corner to the "Politics and World" section. Now, I know that planning a wedding can be a political affair - especially when you're dealing with future mother-in-laws - but does Bride magazine really deserve a coveted spot in this section?

What is going on? All I wanted was the latest New Yorker issue, but, alas, I was forced to walk away with an armful of trashy celebrity magazines. I blame the man.

The Perfect Present

Elizabeth and I went shopping this weekend (the Woodbury Outlets are my new favorite, ever), and I fully expected to find some great clothes. My last shopping experience should have prepared me for the worst, because although we did find some great bargains, I was overall unimpressed with the clothing selection out there.

Everything in the regular retail stores and the outlets are all fall clothes. I cannot try on a long-sleeved shirt or sweater when it is approximately 126 degrees outside. Just last week, I went into a J. Crew, hoping to find some cute summer skirts, since summer in NC will last for another 6 months. I knew the fall clothes were in, so I was hoping for some summer sales. Nothing. Not even a single pair of shorts in the entire store (I kid you not).

This is like Halloween and Christmas all over again. Just when you're pulling out your summer flip flops, the stores are selling Halloween stuff. And before you can say "Trick or Treat", the Christmas ornaments are on display. Why do we, as a society, always look for the next best thing, rather than enjoying the present? The here and now?

I don't want to think about fall. Fall means back-to-school and autumn leaves and cool, brisk mornings. All of these things I love, but I also love summer. The 126 degree weather and the lazy Sundays by the pool and wedding traveling. Summer has just begun and I want to savor the time that it's here.

So let's boycott the fall clothes (for the time being) and enjoy what is going on right now. The present. Let's enjoy summer and then, when the Earth's rotation decides that summer must end, only then should we start thinking about fall. Then I'll buy that jean jacket I've been eyeing at the Gap since June.

What's your song?

Elizabeth forwarded me this link. Type in your birthdate and see what the #1 song in the US (or UK) was on your birthday. It's supposed to be the soundtrack for your life.

Mine was Good Times by Chic. Not a bad song to have as "my song". What's your song?

My dirty little secret

I have a secret. Well, not so secret anymore since I'm about to spill it on the internet. My favorite part of doing laundry is picking the dryer lint off the lint guard. I love it. There's something about peeling it off in one piece and seeing how thick it got with all the days' laundry.

My friend thinks I'm weird because of this. But surely there are other people out there with a dryer lint fetish, as well. The best was when we got brand-new towels and washed and dried them for the first time - the lint was so thick that I had to stop the dryer twice to remove it so it didn't clog the system. And it was so soft!

I don't keep the lint. I throw it away. But it's just a nice finish to the laundry cycle. To wash and dry everything, not removing the lint between dryer loads, to see how much lint collected. I love lint!

Not in Kansas anymore

Note: The following entry is about evolution. Which means, according to statistics, 44% of you will not agree with this entry. If you're easily offended, you may want to return tomorrow. If you enjoy a good debate, then continue reading...

I was about 3 years old, stricken with chicken pox and confined to the sofa, my mother demanding that I get some sleep, which, of course, I ignored, being 3 years old. As I was sitting there, admist my mothers pleas to not scratch my pox or else I would be permanently scarred (literally), I noticed a National Geographic magazine on the coffee table. On the cover was a hologrammed picture - if you turned it one way, it was a human face; when you turned it the other, it was an ape face. As my mother whizzed by, laundry basket in one hand, phone in the other, I asked her what the word on the cover of the magazine said. "Evolution," she replied, squinting to read the cover. I asked her what it meant. She hesitated, looking for the right way to explain this theory to me. "We used to be monkeys," she said as she continued with her chores. Finally, I sat very still on the sofa, closed my eyes, and tried to remember when I was a monkey.

The state of Kansas is currently undergoing some elections that could decide the fate of evolution in the classroom. It seems that this state is permanently stricken with the anti-evolution bug, stemming from the Scopes Monkey Trial days. It's Creation (read: religion) against Evolution (read: crazy secular scientists). What I don't understand is, why can't they be one and the same? Why must Evolution butt heads with religion? Being a Anthropology major and a Catholic, I don't see why the two must be mutually exclusive.

I believe in evolution. It's a theory, but theories are fairly sound - they are a scientific methodology that is repeated in a systemized process in a variety of conditions - all with the same result. Gravity was a theory before it became a law. And it only became a law because it's been a theory for so long. Relativity is a theory. Atoms are a theory. It's more than speculation - it's about as serious as you can get in science. So there is a lot of proof, fact and testing that has gone behind the theory of evolution. Why is it such a stretch to believe that evolution took place, but it was under God's influence?

I guess you could argue that the Bible says it ain't so. But, again, being Catholic and a contextualist, how do we know that the Bible wasn't merely simplifying a very complex theory? Just as my mother simplified something for a 3-year-old to understand (imagine my reaction if she had sat down and started explaining DNA and mutations and time in billions of years), so, too, others may have found a simpler explanation for the way things happened. Granted, we're related to Apes, not Monkeys, and it's that we share a common ancestor to the modern Ape, but is that important to a bratty chicken-poxed kid?

Just look at bacteria, who have much shorter generations than humans. They can reproduce hundreds of themselves in just minutes, while we take 30 years between generations, so they are like evolution sped up. Look at how quickly they adapt to a changing environment. Some die; some mutate and happen to survive. This is how we get drug-resistant bacteria and new strains of bugs for which we have no cure. It's evolution at a microcosm level. It's Darwin in a petri dish.

Here's the problem: if we don't teach evolution to our children, or even teach it as a serious fact, then I'm afraid we may be thrwarting our growth in the sciences. We may be allowing religion to present a block to turning out scientists and researchers. If we could agree that the two can exist in harmony, then we could allow the flow of ideas and science, and not provide yet another stumbling block to our country's lack of science education. Take the stickers out of the textbooks that say evolution is "theory not fact". Allow our schools to teach science, to teach a grounded theory, and allow people to make up their own minds. Let us use our imaginations to remember when we were Monkeys (or Apes) to encourage our children to find the other nuggets of truth that are out there and advance our culture and our country. And to understand more fully who we are and where we came from. I just hope it doesn't point to Kansas.