:: a pink turkey ::

senioritis

2011-12-30T22:34:00.000-05:00

We had the Turkey's senior pictures done earlier this month. The prints came back a couple weeks later and were overexposed. So we took 'em back and did a quick redeux. Here's what we had to choose from:

Check out the laughter in the smallest picture on the right. Hee hee! And the sepia tone on the right we called the "Lincoln pose."

But the one we chose to have printed was ...

Drum roll, please.

dumdumdumdumdumdumdududududumdumddadaumdadumdadumdadumdadum

Ta da!

That's my Turkey!

My SENIOR Turkey. ;-)

qr goodness

2011-09-21T09:18:00.004-04:00

Be impressed?

Be very impressed! :-)

the littlest burrito

2011-09-19T22:56:00.000-04:00

Call him a little burrito. Or maybe an empanada.

Either way he's delectably cute and yummy.

Yummy for snuggles ...

and that's what I finally got to do with the cutest new nephew in the family!

*happy dances!*

(Sorry for the quirky angle on this one.)

(I was trying to get those fists and feet in the photo and got a little crazy.)

(And it was also the cell phone camera in low light which doesn't help.)

(But you get the idea, right?)

Meet Mateo! You saw his cute toes a few posts ago.

He slept through most of his first real introduction to me,

Crazy Aunt Jess,

but he did stretch and yawn and every once in a while.

Until next time, little Mateo!

nom nom nola

2011-09-18T18:31:00.004-04:00

I wanted to get to this cute little restaurant in NOLA last week but their hours didn't mesh with my availability. A few conference folks found their way there and said it was great, although none mentioned a bacon sundae. Check it out:

Our “Notorious” Bacon Sundae
Pecan praline ice cream with a creamy bacon caramel sauce 
carrying a bit of both Pink Himalayan & Black Lava Salts, 
& micro-planed Nueske’s Applewood Bacon, 
layered with whipped cream, of course! $8

Forget the bread pudding with warm rum sauce and get me a bacon sundae pronto!

Oh wow. Click here, download the menus and prepare to be amazed. There are so many creative combinations and taste sensations just waiting to explode on the palate.

Green Goddess is definitely going on The List for the next visit to Nawlins. :-)

nawlins

2011-09-16T18:38:00.003-04:00

Nawlins. New Orleans. NOLA. It's all the same thing - one crazy city with 24/7 liquor and lots of music!

It's also the place where I spent the majority of the week.

I was there for a conference.

Honest and fer real!
(Come on, peeps! My mom reads this blog. It was a conference. Truly!)

The hotel was at the corner of Bourbon and Canal Streets in the French Quarter.

These dudes were on the corner of Bourbon Street every afternoon by 4pm and sometimes stayed until after midnight. I couldn't see them from my hotel window, but boy could we hear them! They were very ~~loud~~ ~~in tune~~ ~~rockin'~~ ~~jazzy~~ ~~obnoxiously fun~~ exuberant, not to mention a little yeast-like in the fact the group would suddenly expand its members and instruments for no apparent reason.

I should have turned around and gotten a picture of the crowd.
They were a hoot, too.

But I did get a picture of this:

That's a cat sleeping in the gallery window.

The print behind him was one of my favorites in the Royal Street galleries.

Other French Quarter sights:

Thanks for throwing the beads my way, peeps on the orange and pink float!

I escaped the French Quarter late one afternoon and took the streetcar

down (up? over?) to Tulane.

Even the Tulane trees had beads hanging in them!

I call these the "beaded trees."

There are lots of them along the "street side" of St. Charles Street.

And really, what trip to NOLA would be complete

without a stop at Cafe Du Monde for beignets?

Mmmm! I can still taste the sugar...

Before catching a cab to the airport for the trip home we wandered up to Antoine's for lunch.

Who could resist the $0.25 martinis?

Not us! They were seriously yummy.

(That's my melon martini above.)

At first we thought it would be a tiny taste, a sip of a martini.

When the beverages came to the table we were pleasantly surprised.

And $0.75 later we were quite fuzzy!

VERY fuzzy! Hee hee!

Earlier in the week we had dinner at NOLA, one of Emeril's restaurants.

It was so super yummy that I forgot to whip out the cell phone

and snap photos of our delectable meal.

Trust me when I say it was good, though.

Go! Get thee to Nola's!

Preservation Hall was also one of our stops.

We had a great time listening to the St. Peter Street Playboys

(you can find them on iTunes) (I think)

and then wandering back down Royal Street

and peeking in gallery and antique shop windows.

But not before picking up one of these:

Bread pudding with a warm rum sauce that tasted like a kicked-up maple syrup.

Swoon!

(Notice that I didn't pick up alcohol, but a dessert?!)

Did I see Jackson Square? Yes, but not in the daylight.

Did I get out of the French Quarter? Yes, but not for long.

Did I get drunk? Wellllllllll ... does tipsy count?

Was it a fun trip? YOU BETCHA!

But I learned a lot at the conference, too. *wink*

in remembrance

2011-09-11T20:37:00.000-04:00

Here is how I chose to honor the tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001:

I flew.

Commercial.

What better way to say, "nanny nanny boo boo," right?

Security was a little tighter than usual at the airport today,
but the lines moved right along and not a soul complained.

When we touched down it was clear that we can only win if we keep moving.

If planes keep flying. If life goes on. If we don't let them get the best of us.

And if we continue to have the freedom to paint jets to look like an orca.

updatey-doo

2011-09-10T08:55:00.001-04:00

Either I make a practice of hanging at the hospital nursery and taking pictures of bambinos or there's a new cutie patootie nephew in the pink turkey world.

I'll let you decide.

:-)

birt-day

2011-09-03T22:38:00.003-04:00

Happy birthday to my favorite Turkey! He turned 17 Friday and, as usual, I couldn't let a milestone pass without marking it appropriately.

Cue the window markers.

I made him drive everywhere and people were waving and honking and shouting, "happy birthday!" It was super cool.

But let's take another look at the side window, mkay?

There. See it? My inaugural experience with window paint and I misspelled "birthday!" *smh* What's super funny about this is I was painting the windows in the parking lot of the party store and people were walking by and commenting, giggling at my efforts. Little did I know they were giggling at my misspelling! Yikes!

I quickly tried to add the missing "h" and was [barely] able to squeeze it between the "t" and the "d." Barely. It seems the window paints dry quickly, making the edits even tougher.

Misspelling or not, I'd just like to say ...

Happy 17th Birt-day to my Turkey!

the piano guys

2011-09-01T09:33:00.001-04:00

It's been a while -- a loooooong while -- since I've posted about my piano obsession. (In case you didn't already know, I want a piano. Want. Want. Want. Waaaaaa-nt! It's like baby hormones -- there's no stopping the want.)

These guys don't help:

Aren't they cute? Love Jon's butt wiggle. Dancing in the wheelchair. And the conga line was a hoot!

Here's another that's just super sweet:

More from the Piano Guys available here.

Like 'em? Then you must subscribble*!

And get me a piano! Stat!

(*Subscribble -- that's pink turkey shorthand for subscribe + talk/write about 'em!)

irene

2011-08-28T11:05:00.001-04:00

In college I had to write a paper about presidential leadership. Presidential as in Washington or Jefferson or Garfield or Arthur or Cleveland or Nixon or Reagan. The ones that currently occupy a big white house. THOSE presidents.

The professor assigned a commander in chief to everyone in the class. I got #35. He was otherwise known as John F. Kennedy.

My paper was terrific except for the ~~small~~ glaring omission of his assassination. I mean, what did his assassination have to do with leadership anyway? IMHO it felt as if everyone talked about #35's demise rather than his time in office, and this paper was all about leadership so it made sense to exclude that one tiny detail. Right?

WRONG-O! The professor laughed -- cackled actually -- and handed the paper back with instructions to rewrite it pronto. Apparently the assassination has EVERYTHING to do with Kennedy's leadership. Dang.

This is what was going through my mind this morning as I set out to give you, my peeps, a blog post about my latest craft project.

Huh? Kennedy to craft projects?

Bear with me just a smidge longer, mkay?

*Ahem!* Back to it....

So this morning I was going to give you the lowdown on how I spent hours in front of the TV last night making button flowers and omit the whole Hurricane Irene schmaltz. That's when I realized the omission of Irene's visit this weekend would be heinous and cause you, my peeps, to mimic my professor of old by guffawing and asking for a rewrite.

Irene has been all over the news. The only way you could have missed her is if you were in Antarctica this weekend. She has excited news producers like a blizzard and caused Matt and Ann to have Sunday morning duties. She is dancing with everyone along the east coast before retiring for the night, and having some serious economic impacts along the way. Everyone knows Irene.

The good news is we escaped Irene's wrath with just heavy winds and about 5" of rain last night. The house is dry, the power remained on, the cat was happy to have us home, and it was a relatively easy night.

This was our biggest excitement. We heard a "thud" early in the evening that turned out to be part of the neighbor's tree crashing down on our adjoining fence. Easy schmeasy (because it's their fence!!!). This morning the yard has lots of leaves and tree branches littering the grass, but nothing else. We are very lucky to have escaped the brunt of the storm.

Conversely, this is what the inside of my house looks like. YIKES! I baked for a while after returning from my afternoon hair appointment (my southern roots were showing) so the kitchen looks about the same. Tsk tsk. It was great to have a night at home where the creative juice-o-meter was reading "high" and we didn't have anything else that was begging to be done. Or at least not begging loud enough for me to hear it, *blush* so I was comfortable leaving the mess overnight. Hopefully I can get a few more done this morning.

That's my Cape May mug in the foreground keeping watch over the button mess. :-)

There you have it, peeps. Irene has left the building, leaving a crater in the fence and a mess in the house. It's been a good weekend! I hope you have escaped relatively unscathed as well.

vacation excursion #4 :: blue ridge parkway

2011-08-25T16:22:00.000-04:00

It was our last day in Asheville and we were headed north. Towards home.

But not without a final excursion/adventure to complete the vacation.

Welcome to the Blue Ridge Parkway!

It was a breathtakingly beautiful drive.

This here picture was taken with my cell phone.

Love how you can still see all the different hues of blue and the layers of mountains.

We were driving when the Turkey leaned out of the car window to get this picture of the lake.

He didn't use my cell phone. Thankfully.

Cute. But we forgot to take off our glasses.

But it's also kinda cool because of the reflection of the clouds on the lenses.

Aha! No glasses. Squinting in the sun, though.

And the breeze meant the Turkey kept getting my hair in his mouth.

Eeeuw!

Purdy!

He kept moving the camera and cutting me out of the picture!

We laughed.

Or, as it looks like, *I* laughed!

The Parkway is a 2-lane, twisty, turny road cut through the mountains.

The speed limit is 45mph but we barely ever got that fast.

The views were just too gorgeous to miss.

So after about 30 miles on the Parkway -- and 2.5 hours --

we took the first exit we saw. I can't tell you where it went, but it was

No Man's Land. Maybe even No Mountain Man's Land.

There were a few trailers every once in a while, but no cell service,

and definitely no amenities.

We just kept going NW until we found the interstate. :-)

And we were home 7 hours later.

It was a GREAT trip!

Four* thumbs up for Asheville and its environs!

*two thumbs from each of us

senior year

2011-08-24T09:19:00.002-04:00

We interrupt the regularly scheduled vacation posts to bring you the following:

Today was the Turkey's first day of his senior year. For the first time in a few years he didn't complain when I took the traditional first-day-of-school pictures, either. (Wow. Three "firsts" in two sentences.)

Doesn't he look handsome? A beard, shorter hair, and contacts --

he's going back to the hallowed halls a different man.

I can't wait to hear what his friends think of his new look.

Today was also the first day he drove to school.

Four! Four "firsts!" Ha ha ha ha ha ha! (Thank you, Count.)

So many "firsts" before 6:45am. Don't know if I can take much more.

He's a senior.

Wonder if he qualifies for the early bird discount at the Country Buffet?

vacation excursion #3 :: artsy asheville

2011-08-22T23:12:00.000-04:00

Velvet and fringe steering wheel covers! Squeee! If they only had one that would match the red Zoom Zoom...

Day three in Asheville was spent downtown exploring some of the art galleries and artsy-fartsy boutiques. Oh Em Gee, it was pure heaven! Even the Turkey, the non-shopper he is, was in a happy zone as we wandered through store after store after store after store. (Maybe this was due to our stop at the Chocolate Lounge -- more on that later -- but who cares?! He was having fun!)

Fun sculptures made of recycled metal were in many of the stores. This flying pig with the pink wings was one of my favorites. Not favorite enough to plop down the cashola, but the kid had sass coming out of his porky non-existent pores! (Amazon has a better picture here but no pink wings.)

The floral arrangements at one gallery had me swooning. The Turkey about crawled under a chair when I found the proprietor and asked her if I could purchase some of her displays, though. They were THAT cool! She didn't let me leave the store with any of her display flowers but I was permitted to take photos, and she did give me some tips on making the flowers. Stay tuned for the bloom-making shindig soon.

Chocolate Lounge alert! That's the pot de creme we shared at French Broad Chocolate Lounge. They should change their name to Yummyville.

This is what chocolate does.

There are no words.

Just giggle fits.

These fishy critters almost found a new home in my kitchen.

(And why did Blogger suddenly change from flush left to centered? Must check this out.)

But the artsy piece de resistance was at Kress:

Button bouquets! The size, the texture, the creativity, the use of felt, and the pure whimsy was just loveloveloveloveloveloveloveLOVE! She built each flower and then tied them together like bouquets, using buttons that were artistic in their own right. Beautimous!

Even the single strands were cool all bunched together.

But it was the bouquets that brought me my wallet to its knees. Seriously, peeps. $30 each per bouquet? (To give you an idea, there are five individual bouquets in the photo above.) I looked at them, mentally deconstructed each flower and bloom, and calculated it might be beneficial to make one myself. How hard could it be, right?

Again, stay tuned...

vacation excursion #2 :: a small french chalet

2011-08-21T08:02:00.134-04:00

You might recognize the boy in front of the house. That's the Turkey. (Just in case you didn't recognize him after all.) The small french chalet *cough* behind him is most often referred to as Biltmore.

That's right, peeps. Vacation day #2 was spent exploring the house and the grounds of this ~~small french chalet~~ ginormous and magnificent palatial estate. It was gorge-yush!!!

The kitty cats on either side of the front door were ~~purring~~ stoic. Meow?

Here you can see the puddy-tats flanking the front door. There. Look closely. They are really small in the picture. Here they look a lot like our cat at home. But this doesn't look like our guard cat at home:

The Turkey couldn't even get both of us in the picture when I was petting him. Or her.

Past the cats we entered the house an stepped back to the turn of the 20th century. (ie, no air conditioning.) We spent two hours touring the house, poking in bedrooms, wandering down hallways, traipsing up and down the staircases, listening to the organ in the dining room, wondering what it was like to really live there, and just generally gawking. Seriously, it's super grand. Even my almost-17-year-old was entranced by the tour. If you haven't been there yet, go. Go now! Tidy up the kitchen, pack a bag, and get thee gone!

Or go after you see these to further whet your whistle:

The fields were lined with rows of sunflowers. They kept going as far as the eye could see. Lovely.

We spent two hours in the house, drove over to Antler Hill Village on the property, had lunch at Cedric's, toured the winery, walked through the gardens and conservatory, wondered why my gardener doesn't do stuff like that (probably because he lives in my imagination), took lots of pictures, drove back through the property, took more pictures, and turned towards ~~home~~ the hotel because we were both on overload. All-in-all it was a seven-hour excursion. SEVEN hours!

Since I'm starting to conclude this blog post it's time to let your fingers do some clicking and check out Biltmore. If you haven't visited the estate yet, pack yer bags and go. G'head. Make like a banana and split to Asheville! You won't regret it.

Pinky promise. ;-)

blog redeaux

2011-08-20T11:44:00.002-04:00

So? Whaddya think of the redecorating?

I've been mulling around a blog make-over for some time and had some rare unprogrammed moments yesterday to make it happen. I washed the moments down with an infusion of creativity and, voila!, a blog redeaux!

Grab a drink at the sidebar and stay a while. You'll find friendly peeps, snippets of life, and healthy doses of fun and whimsy. Enjoy!

vacation excursion #1 :: prospecting

2011-08-19T16:04:00.002-04:00

Our first full day of vacation was spent prospecting for gems at Hiddenite Gems. It's located in Hiddenite, NC. (Go figure.) We went creeking and sluicing there, and came home with pounds of rocks and minerals. Here's a glimpse at some of our treasure:

And here's a look at our dirty, filthy, muddy, fun day acquiring the stones:

After parking we headed down this road -- yes, the one where the sign says, "permitted access only" *giggle* -- and checked in. We paid $10 per person for creeking and sluicing, and a few bucks more to rent the tools of the trade. It was definitely an inexpensive way to spend the day!

And since the sky was overcast and the Mountain Man who checked us in swore on his arthritic joints it was going to rain, we headed to creek first. It was definitely not crowded and the water was clear and cool.

This is basically what one does in the creek -- using the shovel or your hands put dirt in the sieve and then let water wash the dirt away, check the leftovers for treasures. Treasures like that black rock in the bottom right of the sieve. That's a black quartz. Ooooh! Aaaah!

Here's that same black quartz up close along with one of it's neighbors. I've forgotten if that neighbor is a quartz or something else. Egads.)

After a couple hours in the creek we wandered back up the hill to the sluiceway. It's the same concept of pawing through mud to find a treasure but with a twist.

(Didya catch that "couple hours in the creek?" Me? HOURS in the creek? Uh huh. Holla y'all!)

Upon reaching the sluiceway you pick up one of these buckets that have been hauled up from the mine. The dirt is red and clay-like.

... and then you slap some of that red clay-like dirt in the sieve, shake it up, let the water wash the stones, use the brush to clean some things off, and voila! Treasure!

What they don't tell you is the benches on the sluiceway are meant for people who are 4' tall and anyone whose height exceeds that should expect their knees to be sufficiently squished. It was also the dirtiest portion of our day. We had red clay and dirt everywhere and were still finding remnants days later!

The Hiddenite Peeps do augment the buckets with some pre-discovered stones so you're guaranteed some gems via sluicing. The rocks were slightly larger than what we found in the creek, and it was more social there, too. The staff would walk around and help identify stones, and most of the other prospectors there were chatty. Even my normally shy Turkey was engaging in conversation!

In total, we spent four hours at the creek and one hour on the sluiceway, with a picnic lunch in between. (If you ever go to Hiddenite Gems be sure to pack your own lunch. The only sustenance available on site is a soda machine.) We left a sapphire and a ruby with the lapidary there. We also left said lapidary with some cash to cut and polish the stones, and expect to see the final gems in 6-8 weeks. That leaves us with about 10 pounds of rock waiting at home for a rock tumbler or a winning lottery ticket so we can have them cut, too.

Hiddenite Gems = two thumbs up for fun and educational entertainment!

north carolina getaway

2011-08-17T22:16:00.001-04:00

Hello, my turkeys! We are just getting home from a lovely vacation. It was a jam-packed 5 days of fun in and around Asheville, North Carolina.

As you can see above, we did the majestic Biltmore. Just walking around the house and gardens and winery and then stopping for lunch was far more than a Gilligan. No three hour tour here! Try ... drum roll, please ... SEVEN hours! I was a little concerned my Turkey would be bored with touring the house but he was absolutely enthralled. (Score one for mom!)

We also went digging for gems at Hiddenite Gems. This is the creek (or "crick" if you're in the south) where we found some good treasures. Our toes (and butts) were wet a lot, and the water was cool and clear.

Between creeking that day we did some sluicing which was a filthy, muddy, dirty, and fun experience. (Who knew I, the girlie girl, would ever put "filthy" and "fun" in the same sentence?!) We found garnets, sapphires, lots of good quartz, smoky topaz, amethyst, some pretty blue things that I have promptly forgotten the name of, and lots of other gems. Serious fun!

Awww. We took several self portraits throughout our time away and this is one of my favorites. Just had to share. :-)

Day 3 was all about shopping and exploring downtown Asheville. Lots of great art galleries and craft stores and whimsical places. I am officially in love with the button bouquets found at Kress, and kicking myself for not purchasing one while we were there.

Mid-day we headed to French Broad Chocolate Lounge for some pot de creme and house made sodas. It was a marvelous, yummy and much-needed break. Be sure to check out the Chocolate Lounge if you're ever in Asheville.

And on the last day we did anything but rest and say "it was good." Nope. We headed for the breathtaking Blue Ridge Parkway. Up in the mountains it was 70 degrees and breezy -- gorgeous! We were able to keep the windows down most of the way, rolling them up a bit when we hit 5300 feet and it was really chilly.

After 30 miles or so the Turkey was in the Ihavetotallyreachedmylimitforsightseeing zone so we turned off and headed for civilization. Or what we thought was going to be civilization. It took us a while of twisting and turning and wondering who would live in THAT trailer at the bottom of a mountain before we found the Way Out.

Eight hours later we were home. Our beds have never felt so good! It was a great vacation but great to be home, too.

More pictures to follow, my turkeys!

the turkey v 16.1.1

2011-08-10T12:24:00.007-04:00

What's that on his chin??? And where are his geekalicious specs???

The Turkey added contacts and a trimmed beard to his look this week.
It makes him look so much older.

Be still my heart.

the purple fiddle adventure

2011-08-04T20:09:00.112-04:00

Here is a transcript of our conversation around 3:30pm Tuesday afternoon:

Me: Feel like an adventure tonight?

Turkey: Um. Living with you is always an adventure.

Me: (feeling all awww-y now) Right. Want to see Enter the Haggis?

Turkey: (smiling broadly) Tonight?!?!?

Me: Yep. They are playing tonight just a couple hours' drive away. Want to go?

Turkey: HECK YEAH!

And so it came to be. A spur-of-the-moment trip to see Enter the Haggis, an upbeat band from Toronto that has a prime spot in our iTunes library.

They were playing at the Purple Fiddle in Thomas, WV so it was just a ride out I-70 then turn left past Hagerstown, right? About 2.5 hours away, right?

Not exactly.

What I was imagining to be a 2.5 hour drive was really a FOUR hour drive! Unfortunately we were halfway there when this finally dawned on me. Yikes! We made up some time through the curvy-twisty-up-and-down-and-curve-again-hairpin-turn roads in West Virginia (another yikes!) but we made it just as ETH finished their second song of the set.

We quickly discovered the Purple Fiddle is a delightful little place, with your choice of old church pews or tables and chairs to perch and watch the band on the small corner stage. It is very family friendly, non-smoking, and quaint. They even serve hand-dipped ice cream in addition to the usual bar standards! Click on the link and check out all the bands they have coming through. Every town needs a purple fiddle!

The ETH performance itself was super fun. We thoroughly enjoyed the songs and the guys' quirky sense of humor. We sang along with several songs, clapped and hollered, spoke to a couple of the band members, hopped back in the car, drove another few hours, and pulled in our driveway the same night at -- hold on to your mouse -- 2:50am! You don't want to know the last time I was up that late...

What a night! We loved the impetuousness, the adventure, and the music.

When was the last time you did something crazy like that?

he's home!

2011-07-30T23:43:00.002-04:00

I picked up the Turkey from camp tonight. He's been there for the last 8 weeks with a "weekend" every Tuesday to do laundry and enjoy air conditioning. While it was good to have the house to myself for a bit, I kinda feel like doing a little yippee skippy dance now that he's home. (Just don't tell the Turkey or it would totally ruin my Cool Mom status.)

Since you saw handfuls of pictures of camp last summer I won't bore you with too many new ones this time, but -- you knew there was gonna be a "but," right? -- how about a few from today?

Yes?

Welllll, since you asked ...

This might look a little familiar from last year. The mongo big flag is the centerpiece of the camp closing ceremony. The late afternoon light today was so great for pictures so I started snapping away. And snapping. And snapping.

The staff takes the flag down and then they hold it while each person shares their favorite part of the summer. It took a while. Must have been a GREAT summer!

Then the staff folds the flag and hands it to the program director who is vertically challenged so the folded flag is about half his height. It's funny. I couldn't get a photo of the PD with the flag without being obvious so I skipped that and just focused on this:

When you hit "play" you'll hear the camp cheer they yell/sing at the top of their lungs towards the other camp sites. It obviously taxed the audio on my camera so please excuse the crackly crud. You might even want to adjust the volume downward before listening. And ... oh, yeah ... the Turkey is the kid in the yellow shirt (shock!) on the far left.

Listened to it? Need a hearing test yet? ;-)

After all was said and done the sweaty, stinky, dirty, tired kid hugged his mom ...

... and then put his stuff in the car and put up with his mom wanting yet another picture ...

Awww!

Maybe tomorrow he'll shave ...

vacation

2011-07-27T21:50:00.001-04:00

Vacation
All I ever wanted
Vacation
Had to get away
Vacation
Meant to be spent alone

With a nod to the Go-Gos and a new bottle of sunscreen in my bag, I headed off Sunday afternoon for a quick getaway. The tunes were turned up, the gas tank full, and reservations made. Arrival was only a few hours later, and departure followed a brief 48 hours after that. Even though it was a quick trip in the grand scheme of Vacations, it was a few days of bliss. After all, I had to get away.

Better yet: I HAD to get away. Alone.

(Trust me. My family and my staff and colleagues will thank me for this later. They just might not know it yet.)

The ultimate destination was Cape May, New Jersey. I opted to travel the scenic route across the Eastern Shore, through Delaware, and then take the Cape May-Lewes Ferry across the Delaware Bay. Being on the Ferry was a gamble for Vertigo Girl but as long as the water was calm I figured things would be good.

Good news! The crossing was easy and the vertigo only kicked in while the boat was in the middle of the channel. *Happy dances!* Unfortunately it was a very hazy day so the pictures didn't turn out very well, but you get the idea. You're smart like that.

The hotel du jour was the Wilbraham Mansion. This is a B&B that actually felt like a hotel -- comfy bed, private bathroom, jacuzzi, pool, individual temperature controls, off-street parking, elevator, privacy (except at breakfast), and a separate guest entrance. Stay here!

These are just a few of the painted lady photos. Again, the overcast and humid days didn't do much for my attempts at photography. Or the vibrancy of the house colors. And they were definitely ViBrAnT!

This might be my favorite picture from the trip. I got more of the lighthouse, though:

(I obviously like the tall things on the right side of the photo. LOL!)

And did you notice the clouds cleared up a bit?!

Goodbye, clouds and hello, sunscreen!

The beach was delightful. There weren't too many people hanging out by the lighthouse so it was much quieter than downtown. Parking there was free, too! (A good thing since I used all my quarters the day before.)

Speaking of using quarters ... this sign was outside of a local lingerie shop in the pedestrian mall area. (Where I had to use several quarters to park.) Someone has a really good sense of humor!

Looking at downtown Cape May from the beach at night. Yes, my toes were really in the ice-water-called-ocean when this photo was snapped. I had just come from dinner at Martini Beach (it's the middle building in the picture) and needed a walk on the beach after stuffing myself with tapas and martinis: Oysters Rockefeller, seared black and white scallops, stir fried sugar snap peas, and a delectable summertini. If you are ever in Cape May be sure to check it out. YUMmyville!

All too soon it was time to board the Ferry and start heading west. I stayed on the rail for as long as possible, going inside when the boat would sway just a little bit, and then coming back out to watch the docking in Delaware.

The trip was capped off with a stop at .... drum roll, please ....

SONIC! Three cheers for cherry limeade and tater tots! (I really hope my doctor isn't reading this....)

These are just some of the photos from the trip. It was great to get away and relax, explore the hamlet, and enjoy the beach. And I didn't even get too sunburned!

The absentee blogger returns

2011-07-07T00:45:00.000-04:00

I know. I know. I've been gone a lot lately.

Hiding, actually. I wasn't really gone, just hiding.

So much has happened in the past few months. Much of it I didn't feel right sharing with the big bad blog world at the time, but now that things are on the up-and-up again here is a quick pictorial highlight tour:

Dad was in and out of the hospital this spring.

His brothers (they are also my uncles) arrived to provide support and encouragement after hearing the prognosis.

We got a new roommate. Larsen was my parents' cat but he is now living with us. He's a lover not a fighter. And a seriously good sleeper.

Then...

The Turkey broke his wrist in karate class. He was learning, of all things, how to fall properly. (It's obvious he didn't do well with that particular lesson.) He's fine now but the adventure came with a sling, an MRI, then a brace, and more than a few doctor's visits.

The insect petting zoo at Maryland Day was a big success. The millipede didn't pee or poop on him.

Easter. The last time my Dad was in church. I cried. The Turkey was an acolyte. (That's him on the right of the peeps standing around the altar.)

Peony season came and went. This coincided with my Dad's funeral. My house smelled good through the tears.

The rest of May is a blur.

Tears will do that.

In early June I was back in New York to attend a work event.

This is the antithesis of the photo above. It also happens to be Central Park.

It wasn't the Michelangelo but the hotel was definitely nice this time. And they had key cards and a doorman. Bonus!

The Turkey finished school and left for camp 2 weeks ago. I have all sorts of notions about cleaning closets and organizing Lego Land while he's away but so far I've been shopping and working, and just piddling around the house.

"Piddling." That word makes me smile. I can hear my grandmother saying it... :-)

Speaking of work... I have a new office! Even with the boxes unpacked it's bigger than my old office, and I am loving the floor-to-ceiling window.

My birthday came and went and so did our annual tailgate/birthday party at the Fourth of July celebration. Party pictures to follow next post.

And I promise I'll be back sooner rather than later this time.

Pinky promise! :-)

The magic button!

2011-07-05T15:19:00.000-04:00

Sometimes we need a little help getting over a hurdle. Do you ever remember feeling like things just weren't going your way? Maybe it was a work situation. Or a relationship snafu. Maybe it was a school thing. Or - how about this - your flights were cancelled and then your bags went to Great Falls, Montana while you were in Great Falls, Virginia and the snow meant you weren't going to see your new clothes until next week when you really needed them today. Or maybe, just maybe, your air conditioner crapped out during the first heat wave of the season and the super-duper fix-it people couldn't get out to take a look for 10 days and then they needed to order parts and a week later it was still not working but then a second order on new parts did the trick but it only crapped out again during the next heat wave. (Yeah. May was air conditioner H-E-double-hockey-sticks month.)

Anyhoo...there's finally an answer for those days or moments when you just want wave a magic wand and have everything all better. It might not be able to recover your bags back from KGTF but it will, and I mean WILL make everything OK. Just click here.

No promises on the efficacy of this magic button, but my air conditioner is working like a charm now. :-)

May 3, 2011

2011-05-05T07:52:00.000-04:00

Good-bye, Dad. I will miss you.

A massage and an MBA, too?

2011-04-18T12:29:00.000-04:00

That's my new office under construction. That 4th floor window facing us, almost at the corner....where the brick is going up today....yeah, that one....that will be my new office come June. I just hope the construction peeps got the message to save room for the hot tub and masseuse's table. It's going to be a super tight fit if they didn't. The coffee bar takes up too much space otherwise.

Stay tuned for the Office Warming party invitations this summer. Come and get a cup o' java, a massage, and an MBA while you're here!

Thumbs up

2011-04-17T21:26:00.000-04:00

This is what happens when one wrestles a bear.

This could also be the result of an errant fall during karate class. Possibly. I'll let you decide.

Bear or karate, it's a red cast. Matches the rest of his wardrobe, doesn't it? :-)

Huh?

2011-03-20T05:58:00.000-04:00

Um.

Yeah.

Daylight savings time really did a number on us this week.

Night and Day

2011-03-12T20:57:00.003-05:00

Tuesday night. Wednesday day. Wednesday night. And even Thursday morning.

Those are the nights and days I spent in New York this week. The cutie patootie nephew was out of town so this was purely a work trip. The itinerary went something like this: train, meeting, event, dinner, snooze, wake, snooze, wake, snooze, breakfast, meeting, meeting, lunch, swoon, nap, meeting, drinks, dinner, sleep, breakfast meeting, train.

See that there "swoon" after the snoozing and waking tango? Swoon. Ess doubleyou oh oh en. Swoon on a business trip? Why, yes indeedy! It was precisely 10am on Wednesday when there was a full-fledged swoon. Let's do a quick step back to Tuesday to set the scene:

The sun was low on the horizon the evening chill was setting in when I entered the hotel. It didn't take long to realize I had stepped back in time a few decades. My first clue was the credit card swiping machine -- the ones that make an imprint of a credit card on multiple sheets of carbon paper. Shocked me. I thought they were all in the Smithsonian -- followed closely by what the desk clerk handed me:

A key! An actual room key! The room number was even taped to the other side of the green plastic thingy. Yes, taped. Not etched. Not imprinted. Taped! How ... ~~ghetto~~ quaint. The key even fit into a door knob. Not a handle, but a knob. Bless their hearts.

The hotel adventure got better from there. The room was teeny tiny, the bed consisted of an old lumpy mattress with 2 flat pillows, the furniture was scratched and scuffed, the radiator was difficult to turn off making the room feel like a sauna, the window doubled as the air conditioning unit which would have been better if there were a screen to keep the pigeons out, no room service, no internet, tiny thin towels, and the whole place even smelled old.

As I paced the room and tried to figure out how to get out of this place masquerading as a hotel, I snapped a few pictures for you, my pink peeps.

The phone and clock were on the dresser and not in reach of the bed, so there was nowhere to sit if one was on the phone or needed to reset the clock. Oh yeah. The room was dark, too.

This was the view from the door. Notice the abundance *cough!* of room to maneuver around the bed.

The work station in the corner of the room had no light and no space. If one did manage to put a laptop there it would be next to impossible to sit on that chair while working. Look - the seat of the chair is just a couple inches from the bottom of the desk!

The ~~window~~ air conditioning unit had peeling paint and *gulp!* no screen. (Between you and me, I think this was for easier access to the pigeons hanging out on the window sill.) The radiator cover below had to be removed to turn off the radiator in hopes of mitigating the sauna effect.

But not all was questionable. For instance, if you leaned out of the window and looked left there was a great view.

That's St. Patrick's Cathedral and the building across the street was Rockefeller Center. Gotta give it to this place, it was in a terrific location! If only they were in the current century.

Back to my pacing on Tuesday evening. A quick phone call to my favorite hotel in the Big City (first mentioned here) and I discovered they were totally booked. Wait. Maybe not. She put me on hold and came back with the news they could fit me in. Ohsweethallelujah. There was a catch, though. They didn't have rooms for my colleagues who were also unwittingly booked in 1970's grandeur and the current hotel had already charged us for the night. What to do?

I did what every hotel diva who is trying to be professional would do -- I whined but I stayed the night, safe in the knowledge that the morning would bring a new hotel.

Cue the super hero music.

Michelangelo to the rescue! Hooray! At dawn I quickly packed and schlepped the 3 blocks to my favorite hotel and was greeted by the doorman as he held the door, the front desk staff said "Good morning, Miss Last Name," I was given a key card, had a delightful breakfast, and was relaxing in a sumptuous room by 10am. Sweet holy mother of relief! The difference was like night and day.

Light. Airy. Elegant. Comfortable. Lovely amenities. (Bath sheets, anyone?) Open work spaces with internet access. Velvet couches. Upgraded linens. Classical music greeting guests on arrival. Room service. Even the ceiling was elegant! (That last photo is truly the ceiling of a hotel room.)

Swoon!

But I saved the best for last:

Turn down service was not just simple chocolate on a pillow but an entire box of Godivas accompanied by a card from the hotel's GM! Squeal! They had also replaced the towels I had used earlier in the day, upgraded the toiletries, closed the blinds, and turned on the classical music. Ah. With the prospect of pigeons far, far away I slept like a baby. Or a queen. Definitely like a diva. The difference was night and day.

Hi. My name is Jess and I'm a hotel diva.

Cattywompus

2011-03-06T10:54:00.000-05:00

Androids schmandroids.

They didn't work. All my plotting and planning and hoping they would magically get things done and take some of the pressure off was for naught. The two droids just sat and said "hi" to the visitors who dropped by this week. NOT what I had hoped. They have been fired.

So I altered the plan a bit and headed out for some fluff-a-doodle-do magic yesterday. A new cut and color should lead to a new outlook, right?

So far so good! I'm definitely feeling lighter and brighter. Fingers crossed the mood continues and the need for the androids becomes a thing of the past. And I'm loving the blond! While I adore the natural brunette with the red highlights, the blond is just ME. As to the photo ... well, the cattwompus polaroid frame also matches the mood o' the moment so that's ME, too.

Hope you are having a great weekend, pink peeps!

Droid

2011-02-24T17:29:00.001-05:00

Holy moly. Creepin' cows! Whew! The other turkeys in the pen are getting to me today. Meetings, meetings, phone calls, emails that couldn't be returned fast enough, and piles o' papers everywhere was just my morning. The afternoon wasn't much better. It was about the time my afternoon run to the little girls' room was interrupted by an "urgent phone call" (yes, it has been THAT kind of day) that I decided it was high time to come up with a creative solution.

Enter androidify! That's right peeps, this is my solution. My personal android. She will do everything for me at record speed, not letting the turkeys get her down. Nope! She will hover unemotionally over any situation, find the appropriate app and, voila!, things will magically happen! Even with those earrings on her antenna looking like huge zits she can still make things happen.

Letters signed - check!
Agreements proofed - check!
Phone calls returned - check! (even if they sounded somewhat electronic)
Lists made - check!
Emails sent - check!
Nails ~~bitten~~ filed - check!
She even made a droid version of The Turkey:

Let's hope the Turkey's droid will complete his NHS application that's due tomorrow. ;-)

And if anyone figures out a way to effectively name these personal droids without sounding like a hemorrhoid cream -- Jessoid, anyone? -- they get some serious bonus points! Preparation H optional.

Hearts v2.0

2011-02-18T10:21:00.002-05:00

Last Friday I found a box of chocolate goodies on my desk. This Friday - today - I walk in to the office and find a bowl of conversation hearts waiting for me. *Squeal!* Thank you to my staff who know my candy cravings and help maintain the sugar high!

Pink turkey peeps might remember last year's fiasco when NECCO changed the classic formula for their ubiquitous conversation hearts. It was not pretty. There were tears, fussings, fumings, lots of sulking, letters exchanged, emails sent, and a big boycott of the classic sweethearts. All my coworkers and cohorts knew how I had been wronged and suffered through the story on multiple occasions. As far as breakups go, it was a bad one. Bad!

One year later my heart is mended and I am with Brach's now, but here is what I want to say to NECCO on the anniversary of our tutti-fruity split:

You were my first love, NECCO. I will always have a sweet spot for you. You were generous with your sayings and calories throughout our years together but that can't overcome a lousy taste and how you ignored my pleas for you to change.

While our break-up was bittersweet and tasted all too fruity, please know that I am a fatter person because of you. When you get over the need to be a trend setter and realize you are really a classic at heart, I will be willing to talk. If things work out I might even consider the holy grail of liking you on Facebook. Maybe.

To quote your own hearts: SEE YA. And when you are ready to have a classic relationship: EMAIL ME.

Eat your heart out,

pink turkey

The box

2011-02-11T22:05:00.000-05:00

Check out what I found in my in box today:

Yep. That's my in box. That's my in box with a present in it! A present! For me! Woo hoo!

And I know you're staring at that picture saying, "Huh? THAT'S your in box? It's too huge to be an in box." There might even be some head scratching or a furrowed brow.

See, that's much more than an in box. It's also the I-don't-want-to-deal-with-it-yet box, the ignore-it-and-maybe-it-will-go-away box, the don't-have-a-file-for-it-yet box, and the ever-popular plain-but-loved out box.

Before I need a twelve step program for hyphen usage let's look at that box again:

Ahhh. If smell-o-vision were turned on you would get a good whiff of chocolate at this point. Chocolate? Chocolate in my in box?! Chocolate AND a present?! What could be better?! (Don't answer that.)

Every year one of our favorite caterers brings these Valentines boxes o' yummies to our office. Apparently today was his delivery day. Who am I to argue? My in box loved the non-traditional interloper and my taste buds screamed for some coffee while I went on a sampling mission.

Yum. Yum. Yummo! The heart shaped cakes on the left were my favorites. Gooey cake with a white chocolate glaze - mmmmm, mmmm, good! The strawberries were sweet, cookies moist, truffles great, chocolate covered pretzels to die for, and the chocolate straws melted in the mouth.

Yum! *sip of coffee* Seriously yummy. *bite of chocolate* Thank you, Charles and company, for this delectable Friday afternoon treat. Happy Valentine's Day to you, too!

A new post

2011-02-06T19:15:00.001-05:00

Technically it's New Hope. New Hope, Pennsylvania to be exact. That's where the weekend adventure began. Like the train station?

It was a cold day with a biting wind but we walked around the downtown area, had lunch overlooking the Delaware River, poked in a couple stores, picked up new coffee mugs (or tea if that's your preference), and then headed to New Jersey.

New post.

New Hope.

New mugs.

New Jersey.

See a theme? ;-)

In New Jersey we toured the power boat show for a -- pause for effect -- New Boat! (Gotta love the themes.) Regal, Formula, Sea-Doo, Bayliner, Kawasaki, Yamaha, yachts, sports, racing, in board, out board, dry heads and wet heads, we saw a lot. The mango colored Sea-Doo was the front runner by the time we left a couple hours later.

But let's get back to the New Theme, shall we? Because then I can show off my New coffee mugs. (Or tea mugs if you prefer; Pink Turkey is all about equal opportunity beverages.)

Ta da! Thank you to the very fun New Hope store Mechanic Street MUGs for these awesomely funky and fun New mugs. If you are ever in the neighborhood I highly recommend a visit to this unique shop. Just click on the store name for the address and other info. Be sure to say "hi" to Joel when you're there!

The weekend adventure ended just in time for a trip to the grocery store before unpacking and settling in for the Super Bowl. The Turkey and I have munchies and bottles o' beverages, and we're hoping for some great New commercials.

Cheerio!

A snow day

2011-01-28T13:14:00.000-05:00

On Thursday, January 27th the mid-Atlantic got hit with another snow storm. It brought rush hour traffic to a stand still, brought down trees, crippled the power grids, shut down schools and businesses, and left between 8 and 10 inches of snow on the ground in its wake.

Here is what I saw that morning:

Snow, schmow! I was still in Florida and taking full advantage of my remaining hours of sunshine and sand! So while my friends and family were shoveling driveways and sidewalks and hoping for the power to come back on, I was walking along the beach in Naples. Sand between the toes and everything.

You can see it was a gorgeous day. With a plane to catch in just a few hours though, I had to soak up as much of that gorgeousness and quickly. A quick walk on the beach (10 minutes judging from the parking meter), a quick stroll through Old Naples, a drive back to the hotel to grab my bags, lunch by the pond, and then off to the airport. It was speedy.

This was the view from my last hotel room. Yes, that picture above. This is here so you don't think that every room had a super duper fantastic view. (Although Barnes & Noble there in the distance is really not a bad thing to look at!)

Better than the hotel view, this was the lunch view. Shrimp at Hemingway's, yummy. Dning al fresco with a water view, super sweet! Being in Florida during a snow day at home, priceless!

As a stark contrast, here is what greeted me this morning as I walked in to work:

The picture looks cloudy because it was snowing. Again.

The toes are now in boots instead of sand. And it's still snowing.

The view

2011-01-25T22:34:00.000-05:00

Since I have been sharing the view from previous hotel rooms I figured it was only fair to step on to the balcony and snap a photo of today's vista. This is the courtyard and pool (duh!) in West Palm Beach. Notice the absence of blue sky? Yep, it rained all day. Rain, wind, tornado warnings, thunderstorms, and now a full blown tornado watch. Oh, and the TV announcer just said hail too. Thankfully I'm snug in the hotel and the current cacaphony outside is but a soundtrack for some good sleep.

I hope.

A matter of degrees

2011-01-24T10:37:00.000-05:00

18 - the high temperature yesterday. Fahrenheit. (Just in case you were wondering)

10 - the temperature last night at 11pm. Brrrrrr!

6 - what PMG faced this morning. Hello, Mr. Popsicle!

38 - the temperature when the alarm clock went off at 7am.

59 - the purported high for today.

Huh? Wait. Say that again. 10 to 59 in roughly 12 hours??? How is that possible??? A 49 degree jump in a mere 12 hours??? Is Mother Nature just having bad PMS??? Again???

Momma Nature's cycles aside, 10 to 59 degrees is indeed possible with a little help from a commercial airline and some ingenuity to make a business trip to Florida a necessity in late January.

Welcome to the sunny Gulf Coast! This is the sunrise that greeted me this morning. It was chilly at 38 degrees (although, by the standards at home, that's a veritable heat wave!) so I stayed on the balcony and snapped a few pictures as the sun gradually illuminated the beach.

My current vantage point is in Pensacola Beach. I landed about 10:30 last night, picked up a rental car, and checked in to the hotel. In another couple hours I will be mobile again, the beach views being replaced by miles of asphalt and interstate road signs.

This is a unique trip in that I am ping-ponging across the state of Florida for the next few days. Pensacola, Destin, through Tallahassee, with a final destination of Jacksonville is just today's journey. This trip is all about visiting with people and making connections.

And a little scenery here and there. ;-)

It doesn't hurt that it's warmer here than at home, either.

*thud!*
*wack!*
*thud!*
*thud!*

That was the computer being hit with snowballs. Guess those peeps back home are a little jealous. Sigh. I hear it's a balmy 12 degrees on campus this morning. Wish I were there. (Liar, liar, pants on fire!)

Best wishes for a warm day, where ever you are!

On the ninth day of Christmas...

2011-01-02T11:04:00.001-05:00

Dear Santa:

Since I am ~~still~~ a really really really really good girl, and you're on vacation right now and very relaxed, I have one more little teensy tiny request.

You, dear Santa, are full of magic and can do anything, so steer those reindeer to my house in March with the 2011 HGTV Dream Home in the sleigh. For me. Please. Pretty please? With whipped cream on top. Chocolate sauce, nuts and a cherry too, if you're into that kind of stuff. I will even throw in a week for you and Mrs. Claus at the lodge. Every year. Just not Christmas week because I know you're super busy then. Any other week. Take your pick. Heck, pick TWO weeks! All it takes is a Dream House. THIS dream house. In March. I know this is a big request and I really hope that three months is long enough to make it happen.

Please? Did I say I've been a good girl? Because I have been good. REALLY good. Three whole people can attest to that. (Maybe four if you bribe him.)

During your two weeks at the lodge I am certain Mrs. Claus will enjoy the hot tub, the stunning master suite, the relative privacy of the house, and the amenities in the surrounding area. There is even sleigh parking at the lodge, and room for eight in the ski dorm. Don't you have eight reindeer? Uh huh. That's what I thought.

Thanks, Santa. Say hi to Mrs. Claus and the kiddos for me. Hope to welcome you to the lodge later this year.

Love you bunches and bunches,

On the fourth day of Christmas...

2010-12-28T19:04:00.000-05:00

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me ... well, he's technically not my true love. Hopefully "lovey" will do as we are talking about The Turkey here. So let's try this again, shall we?

On the fourth day of Christmas my lovey gave to me ... can you guess?

Four calling birds? Nope.

Four calling cards? Nope.

Four decks of cards? Nope.

Try this: four weeks times two (aka eight weeks) at summer camp as paid staff! Yippee!

Today was The Turkey's first ever job interview and he did well. On the spot, they confirmed him for a paid position at summer camp this year. He doesn't officially begin until June 18, but the time between now and then will be peppered with a weekend work day here and there. Volunteer work days, of course.

Needless to say, if this was his first ever job interview, the summer will bring his first ever paychecks. The cash he will come home with is measly, but the camp provides room and board AND his mom has a few weekends of kid-free living.

Let's hear it for a summer job! Hip, hip, HOORAY!

Congratulations to The Turkey on a stellar job interview.

Three french hens

2010-12-27T12:55:00.000-05:00

Happy third day of Christmas!

O Tannenbaum

2010-12-19T09:06:00.000-05:00

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around the house. Finally! The list of errands and other ephemera from yesterday resulted in a fully decorated Christmas tree by late last night. Today's projects will include the little touches of holiday cheer around the rest of the house, in addition to some time on campus for graduation.

Back to the tree, though. We have been trying to come up with an appropriate name for said tree now that she is a part of the family. The Turkey is fond of either Tink or Roxie. She's got sparkle and sass, a festive attitude, she's quiet and still, stoic even, but she really lights up a room. Alice? Esther? Eve?

The Island of Misfit Images

2010-12-18T12:26:00.000-05:00

Today, December 18th, I finally have a few "free" hours to focus on the holly and the jolly. I am still at the very beginning stages of decking the halls -- retrieving boxes from the basement, putting a wreath on the front door, assessing the state of the shopping, arranging the Christmas cards, tweaking the 2010 Christmas playlist, and decorating the tree.

Looking back at that list I am not so sure this is a "free" day after all!

In the midst of list management, I am taking a hot tea break while listening to the tweaked 2010 playlist (it's getting there, ya'll!) and wanted to share some miscellaneous shots from the week. These are all from the Island of Misfit Images so don't expect any continuity or theme. ;-)

The New York skyline from the corner of Bryant Park. Don't let the blue sky fool you -- it was bitterly cold. I kept ducking in to shops, stores, coffee shops, offices, whatever, just to get warm for a few minutes.

A very unique snowball in Bryant Park. Wait! That's not a snowball, it's a Kate Spade store! Heaven! The heat was working well, the penguin at the front door was friendly, and the colors and goodies inside were a welcome treat. Expensive, mind you, but very welcome. After about 15 minutes of warm browsing I left the store without any Kates, but with all my Georges in tow. :-)

My bathroom at the hotel in New York. Two separate vanities, a bench by the makeup mirror, a flat screen TV, marble, generous sizes of complimentary toiletries, and pure bathroom bliss. Really, why NOT get a picture of this?

I hearted San Francisco. Just sayin'...

Thursday was our office holiday luncheon at an Italian restaurant in DC. The Pope even joined us! *snicker* We were seated at the Pope's Table at Buca Di Beppo, a round table for 20 with the walls bedecked with images of and from the Vatican. Was this the boss' way of saying we need all the divine inspiration we can get?!?

This was on the opposite wall from the Pope. I think it was there to remind us of what we would look like after dessert. More bread, anyone?

Let me know what you think of this one. Like? Dislike? Need some more make up? Ditch the glasses? Call the stylist? You tell me.

Hope your holiday weekend is fully of merry jingles and jollies!

Heading home

2010-12-15T19:10:00.001-05:00

New York

2010-12-14T00:29:00.001-05:00

Ta da! The destination du jour is New York City!

There is much hustle and bustle here, and a bit of snow tonight. If it weren't so dang cold and windy I would say it was super picturesque. There is something wonderful about being here during the holidays and seeing the lights up everywhere, the big decorations on the streets and in buildings, the trees everywhere, Christmas markets in the squares, and a general feeling of Christmas in the air.

Or is that a Christmas carol?

That's 50th and 7th down there. Otherwise known as the view from my hotel room. (Hey, since you got the views last week in SF it was only fair you got them of NYC, too.)

One of the joys of a business trip to NYC is getting to see this cutie patootie:

Wouldn't it be great if we could all get strolled around the city in our very own sleeping bags? That's the life.

It's way past the witching hour and time for me to hunker down in my own sleeping bag for the night. (Translation: go to sleep in this super comfy hotel bed.) Have a great night, my peeps! You can be sure I will take more pictures tomorrow and share more adventures as soon as I have a viable internet connection.

Sleep tight!

Monday, the 13th

2010-12-13T08:02:00.000-05:00

Thank goodness it's not Friday. Today is a Monday with all the traps and trimmings, including another trip! Can you guess where I'm going this time? Hint: it is another business trip. (Expense accounts rock!)

Last week's trip was super smooth and comfortable, with flights running on time, and some gorgeous scenery to keep me entranced on the long ride across the country. While I did not capture images of "smooth and comfortable" (trust me, first class was comfortable!), here are some snaps of the scenery:

The clouds at 30,000 feet looked like an ocean.

And then the ocean got choppy.

This looked like the Grand Canyon in clouds -- a precipice on the left with different landscapes on either side.

One of my favorite pictures from the trip. Loved the different textures in the clouds.

West of Milwaukee, looking down at the snow on the ground.

Mountains! This was absolutely breathtaking. Based on our location at the time, this could be the northern end of the Grand Canyon. Or not.

Today's trip may not be as photogenic, but hopefully it will be just as smooth. Fingers are crossed (you just can't see them inside the mittens).

Up, up, and away

2010-12-08T20:44:00.001-05:00

Hello again from 38,000 feet. :-) This time I'm somewhere over Indiana (I think) and heading east. It was fun being on the other coast for a while, and I would have liked more time to fully explore San FUNcisco -- hee hee -- but I am very content to be heading home.

My body never adjusted to west coast time. I was awake at 4am every bleeping morning. The wee hours were spent handling a lot of business with my office, chatting with friends, checking in with the family, getting spiffy, and then heading down for breakfast at 8am. By the end of the morning's first conference session I was ready for a nap. Always. Made it through the afternoon with my eyes somehow open, changed clothes around 5pm and then headed out for sight seeing, dinner, and fun. In bed by 11pm WEST coast time, and awake again at 4am where the cycle started all over again.

Did I mention I am tired?

Needless to say, I jumped at the opportunity for another first class upgrade going home. The wider seats are a boon for my arthritic hips, the extra leg room is joyous, and the beverages are stellar. (She says while sipping on a Mango Peach Fuze and vodka.)

Some general, Fuze-n-vodka thoughts from San Francisco

I scored big time when, at a shop in Chinatown they pulled back the magic curtain and I was granted access to the mother lode of faux purses. I swear I heard angels singing. While it was super fun to browse through the purses, I left them all there. Turns out the owner dude was not willing to haggle much, so the white and pink leather coachette stayed there. As did the red prada-ette. They might haunt my dreams.

If for no other reason, I am going back to SF to eat at the Stinking Rose restaurant. Their entire menu is based around garlic. Garlic, ya'll! They are probably still cleaning my nose prints off their windows. It smelled utterly divine and I came thisclose to sidling up to the bar and ordering one of all the appetizers. (Is sidling even a word? If not I just made it up. Webster's, take note!) Anyway, I decided the conference peeps would appreciate me staying away from that much garlic. Next time...

A colleague and I walked from Union Square up through Chinatown, turned left through Little Italy, and then all the way down to Fisherman's Warf, up to Ghiardelli Square, and over to Pier 39 in one night. ONE night. With hills. It was a killer walk.

Did I mention the hills? HILLS, peeps.

No wonder I am tired.

Holdthephone. What am I doing? Why am I blogging while drinking? Better yet, why am I blogging when the guy next to me is kinda cute and willing to chat? Silly me.

Toodles!

San FUNcisco

2010-12-08T11:13:00.001-05:00

Chinatown

Ghirardelli Square

(before I figured out how to adjust the brightness and flash on the cell phone camera)

Fisherman's Wharf

Union Square

Over the bakery at Bistro Boudin

Our cable car back to the hotel

The one thing I didn't see in daylight and is difficult to see at night is ... drum roll, please ... the Golden Gate Bridge. WHAT?! What's a trip to SF without a picture and sighting of the Golden Gate Bridge?! I obviously need to come back.

See you again, San ~~Fran~~FUNcisco!

A room with a view

2010-12-07T01:43:00.001-05:00

This is the view from the 26th floor of the hotel. More specifically, the view from my room. Sweet!

If I knew how to do photo stitching you'd have a panoramic view of the city from my little window on the world. Hopefully one day soon I can get that software to work. For now though, you'll have to settle with another picture taken while I was looking to the right:

And here's the city when the rain cleared and the sun decided to come out and play:

When I got "home" tonight after a whirlwind trip to Chinatown, Little Italy, Ghirardelli Square, Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, dinner at Bistro Boudin, and a cable car ride back up the hills - whew! - well, here is what greeted me at 10pm:

Take the sight seeing list above and add a full day of conference sessions and you have one tired Pinkie. *Yawn!* Come back tomorrow (or another time that's convenient for you) to get more details on the trip, the conference, my impressions on San Francisco, and the usual zaniness. For now ...

Nite! Nite!

30,000 feet plus 8

2010-12-05T12:26:00.000-05:00

Hi again. It's flight numero dos for the day. This one is a bit longer at 4 hours. Unfortunately, my layover wasn't long enough to fully recharge the laptop batteries so I'm only going to have power for 1/3 of the flight. Dang it. I also forgot to stop and buy a book or a new magazine. Double dang it. Ninety minutes in to the flight and I've already napped for the first 45 and read the airline's publication from stem to stern. After this blog entry, and with battery life down to 49%, I'm not sure what I'll do. Sigh.

But let's get to the good stuff, shall we? My final destination is ... can you guess? Maryland to Milwaukee and then a 4 hour flight somewhere else. Any guesses? Anyone? Buehler?

Here's a clue: it starts with an S and ends with rancisco. And why anyone, much less me, would go through Milwaukee to go from east to west is beyond me. Oh wait. I remember. Milwaukee sounded easier than Atlanta, less risky than Denver, much less congested than Chicago, and there was a great chance of an upgrade to first class. Right! That's why I booked this particular flight.

That and in Wisconsin there's always the possibility of cheese. :-)

From Maryland to San Francisco -- you figured that out, right? -- by way of Milwaukee, in first class all the way -- hooray! ... um ... I just lost my ~~train~~ plane of thought. Oh well. We're only at 41% battery life now so let's just say that the trip to San Fran is for work stuff and am looking forward to being there, seeing the city, and catching up with colleagues. Should be fun. Let me know if you have any suggestions for things to do. (Besides plugging in the laptop!)

Over -n- out from 38,000 feet.

30,000 feet

2010-12-05T08:23:00.000-05:00

Hello from somewhere between Maryland and Milwaukee!

Thanks to the marketing minds at AirTran I am blogging from the friendly skies this morning. Let me tell you, I am loving.Loving.LOVING this whole free WiFi thing on the plane. At first I was all pooh-pooh about it. I mean, one of the joys of being on a plane is the relative freedom and disconnectivity from life, right? But when this pink turkey jumps on a plane at 7am with a to do list a mile long, well, the pooh-pooh's can take a hike.

The other thing that took a hike today was the wardrobe. My normal flight attire is something along the lines of slacks, nice shoes, work-appropriate top, and a blazer -- just in case I run across a professional contact, potential date, or otherwise need to look put together. (Remind me to tell you about the contacts I've made on planes before. Or, better yet, have Aimee tell you.)

Today though, with the prospect of a 7+ hour travel day and nightmares of security lines dancing through my head, I pulled out the yoga pants, t-shirt, tennies, and *gasp!* sweat shirt. Add little/no make-up and barely dry hair and it looks something like this:

It's enough to make Stacy and Clinton scream! (The picture is small because it's sooo embarrassing.)

And, hey, I didn't even get charged an extra baggage fee for those suitcases under my eyes. Bonus!

Anyhoo ... all this noise lately about airport security had me a little edgy this morning as I approached the dreaded security line. Thankfully, the lines were short so it went quickly. Took off the sweatshirt and shoes, put all my ~~crap~~ items in bins, held on to the boarding pass with a vice grip, and waited for the pat down or the scan or whatever they were going to do.

And waited.

Here it comes ...

Nothing.

Nothing. Not even a wand or a gratuitous grope. An "OK" from the TSA guy was all I got. Honestly, I felt a little cheated. But then I realized airport security is the only place where no shoes and no shirt will still get you service. The entire security section from entering to stripping to screening to putting the shoes back on, took all of 10 minutes. I guess that counts as service.

Next stop: Milwaukee. Will catch you from the next plane, my peeps!

Fa la la la la, la la la la!

2010-11-28T22:00:00.005-05:00

Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat. Please put a penny in the old man's hat. If you haven't got a penny, a Christmas song will do. If you haven't got a Christmas song, then God bless you!

The Thanksgiving holiday is coming to a screeching halt, shoppers are out in full force in the malls and on line, there is a smattering of holiday tunes on the radio, and Christmas is less than one month away. It all points to one thing ...

It's time to make the annual Christmas playlist! YIPPEE!

Yes, my pink peeps, it is indeed that time of year again. I am in full Christmas song, holiday hits, fa la la la geeking mode. I spent hours this weekend combing through the iTunes store and my own song library for potential pieces to include. While listening, singing, humming, finding new options, listening some more, and toying with some possibilities, the proverbial light bulb finally clicked on.

*ON!*

Yep, just like that.

I have a mega iTunes collection with goo gobs of Christmas tunes -- not to brag; it's a little more embarrassing than that -- and would like to share the Christmas joy. In song. I have lots of favorites but what are YOUR favorites? Do you have an all-time favorite holiday tune? Does it matter who performs it, or does the tune of, say, Little Drummer Boy transcend the performer? Do you like the classical Christmas vibe a la Handel's Messiah, or something more modern and upbeat like Mary's Boy Child? Peaceful and quiet or big and bold? What song comes on the radio and makes you think "NOW it's Christmas?"

Don't go tell it on the mountain. Tell me instead! Leave a comment with your favorite Christmas song or songs and any other information you want to share about your holiday tune tastes. Maybe, just maybe, your personal fave will make an appearance on the Christmas '10 mix.

God rest ye merry, gentle peeps!

Welcome, Olivia

2010-11-21T21:10:00.001-05:00

We have a new member of the pink turkey household. She is a big softie with a firm core, has a bit of a muffin top, is an expensive date, and is a pain in the butt to get up the stairs.

Meet Olivia:

Olivia is now residing in my room. My old mattress -- un-named, by the way; we checked -- is now in Turkey's room. The Turkey's old mattress with coils poking through the fabric is hitch hiking its way to the county recycling center. I have it on good authority it will have a ride by 8 tomorrow morning.

While Turkey's old mattress waits for its ride we have been busy moving beds around, cleaning, washing dust ruffles and comforters, and generally getting ready for the first night with Olivia in the house. It is very safe to say the Turkey and I are both looking forward to tonight's journey to Dreamland on new and new-to-you beds.

Thanks to my parents for the early Christmas present for both of us! And welcome, Olivia. I sincerely hope you enjoy your new home.

P.S. Um. When did mattress companies start naming their products?! Does anyone else find this just a tad bit weird?

Williamsburg

2010-11-19T11:44:00.002-05:00

Picturesque. Everyone always describes the historic Williamsburg experience as picturesque.

I'd like to add quaint, charming, colorful, and fun to the adjective list.

However you describe it, here's a glimpse at a weekend in the very picturesque, quaint, charming, colorful, fun, and very historic Williamsburg, Virginia:

The first stop on our journey - The Capital.

More shots of the Capital from the street. (Can you believe that sky is not even photoshopped? It was a gorgeous day.)

This was the fencing in front of the Magazine and Guardhouse.While I wouldn't want to run into it, I'm not sure how effective it would be at keeping people out.

The Courthouse with a very gorgeous tree out front. I stood across the street for a while waiting for the hordes of picture takers to clear out from under the tree.

....and then I became a total tourist and took a picture, too!

(Don't pay attention to the hair. It was a windy day.)

The Governor's Palace. And, yes, that is indeed a nametag. It was my admission ticket for the historic buildings. I committed a major sin by forgetting to take it off for pictures. Twenty "Hail Letitia's" were said as pennance.

Believe it or not, I got in trouble for taking this picture. We were in the study on the 2nd floor of the Governor's Palace, and I moved the blinds just a fraction to be able to get this shot out the window. The docent .... 'scuze me .... the historical interpreter got very angry with me for touching the blinds. I apologized in due course and mistakenly referred to another worker in the building as a docent. Lordy! You would have thought General Washington himself was walking through the property by the way she fussed at me! Needless to say, I was very quiet and didn't touch the furniture or the blinds for the rest of our tour.At least not that she could see. *wink*

This is the back yard at the Governor's Palace. There was a boxwood maze off to the right (which I navigated successfully. Thankyouverymuch.), formal gardens on the left, a stage in the way back, and we even saw General Lafayette taking a stroll. I wish my back yard would look this good. Sigh.

From the Palace we meandered through the streets a little more, stopped at Trellis for some Death by Chocolate, picked up some cheese (see previous post), were very much alive after devouring the chocolate, and skipped back to the Visitor Center before heading to the airport.

The good news is, after 46 hours together, we were still smiling on the trip home.

See ya' next time, Williamsburg!

Say "cheese!"

2010-11-08T17:15:00.001-05:00

Cheeeeese!

Before I snapped this picture it was so crowded that I couldn't even SEE the cheese, much less pick out some to sample or purchase. That's when the friendly Brenda came to my rescue. She saw me looking sullen and asked if she could get me anything from the counter. Um, there's cheese involved -- OF COURSE you can get me something from the counter!

Brenda and I chatted for a minute and then she disappeared behind the wall of people. She emerged from behind the wall a few minutes later with a tray of cheese. MY cheese! *Squeeee!*

I said my thank you's and then, miraculously, the sea of people parted. It was then that I really and truly saw the holy grail: cheese. Stacks and wheels and packages of cheese. The soundtrack of life paused while the angels sang. I had to remind myself to breathe. It was a profound moment.

Four hunks of that cheese came home and are now camped out in my fridge, waiting for tonight:

Glass of Wine, meet Cheese.
Cheese, meet Glass of Wine.

I have a feeling you two will be fast friends. :-)

Apples, apples, and more apples

2010-10-06T09:25:00.000-04:00

Those aren't leaves on the ground. Nope. Those are APPLES!

The weekend brought some cooler weather so we decided to take advantage of it and headed north to the orchard. We weren't disappointed.

We wandered through the rows of trees, filling our bag with apples, tasting as we went. They had red delicious, golden delicious, staymen, ida red, and matsu. We adopted a few of each.

This was our transportation from the parking lot to the orchard. A tractor bed with old school bus seats, and a covering. Brilliant! Not comfortable by any means (shock absorbers, anyone?), but still brilliant.

It really was a pretty day and the apples were yummy. We even came away with some good pictures!

But I saved the best for last:

See that guy behind the Turkey? Right there. Let's call him Big Grinner. Well, I have NO CLUE who he is, where he came from, or even recall him being on the bus-tractor contraption. But he has a cute grin and a great sense of humor! :-)

Thank you, Mr. Big Grinner, for being a part of our apple picking memories.

Weekend in Wally World

2010-10-04T20:55:00.000-04:00

I spent the weekend with buddies from *gulp!* high school. Yep! Twenty five years after graduating and it felt like yesterday. We still ACTED like we were in high school, staying out after curfew, being rowdy, and then munching out on pizza at 3 a.m. at Frank's mom's house. Oh, yeah.

Well, maybe we were acting more like college kids. We were, after all, in the bar.

I am working on stitching photos together to share with you. In the meantime, here's the alumni band video for your viewing pleasure:

Yes. Old people do indeed rock!

In addition to cheering my peeps and taking photos from the stands, we watched about 10 other bands perform on Saturday night before heading over to the bar to get warm and continue socializing. It was 3:41a.m. when I finally pulled into the garage at home. I might be rockin', but this old person just can't pull that off two nights in a row any more.

Yes, you read that right: TWO nights in a row!

We had fun. :o)

Ho, ho, h .... hmm?

2010-09-24T07:35:00.003-04:00

September 23. It's the Autumnal Equinox. The 266th day of the year. A Thursday (this year, at least). It's the day Nintendo was founded, and the anniversary of the Concordat of Worms. (Who knew?)

September 23, with 99 days remaining in the year, is not the day I expected to find a fully stocked Christmas section at the hardware store.

Maybe they are celebrating the anniversary of the Concordat of Worms. Maybe?

Pickles

2010-09-15T10:12:00.000-04:00

Speaking of food ... let's talk pickles.

Yes, pickles. Dill, midgets, gherkins, bread and butter, kosher, spears ... pickles.

Are pickles a vegetable? They are made from cucumbers after all. Cucumbers are a vegetable. But then the cukes are soaked in ... in ... pickling stuff to make them into pickles. Does the pickling stuff negate the powers of the vegetable? Are the nutrients from the cucumber still in the pickle? Or does the pickling stuff totally neuter the nutrients?

Then, to really add insult to injury, the pickles can be fried which turn them into all sorts of yumminess. Mmmm! If they were categorized as a vegetable before, are they even less of a vegetable after being fried? Do we get ANY of our daily serving of vegetables by eating fried pickles?

I ask these questions because we ate some last night. And then a few more for good measure. And they were good. Yummy good. And the Turkey argued that it counted toward his daily veggie intake. Who am I to argue? (As I eat another one. Mmm!)

Photo courtesy of Google images. Thanks!

Just peachy

2010-09-12T21:19:00.000-04:00

I did a lot of cooking this weekend. Well, "cooking" might be too technical a term. Let's just say I spent a lot of time in the kitchen, and other than tonight's scrumptious supper, it was more along the lines of "putting ingredients together" instead of "cooking." Case in point:

It doesn't look like much all scrunched up in the dish like that, and my photographic equipment is less than ideal for this kind of shot, but trust me when I say these were super yummy. No oven, toaster, grill, or other kitchen-based heating device was ever used. It is simply fresh peach slices wrapped in prosciutto and fresh basil.

Here's the link to the original recipe and the photo that's so much better than what I could pull off.

As usual, I used the recipe only as a guide. Step 1 of slicing the peaches was a breeze and we definitely followed that one to the letter, but that's where the follow streak ended. The peaches were in a bowl when I realized there was no sherry in the house and cumin would be OK but, well, I just wasn't feeling the cumin love. So ... enter the liquor cabinet. A splash of Grand Marnier (maybe 2 tablespoons) and a quick shake of cayenne pepper, and we were off! I tossed the peaches to make sure they were all tinged with liquor and pepper, and then wrapped each with 1/3 of a slice of prosciutto and a fresh basil leaf. Voila!

And the taste?

Ohmygoodness! YUMMY!

Super easy. Super yummy. Super fresh. Super fabulous.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

2010-09-10T08:55:00.000-04:00

We are not morning people. No way, no how. 8:00am still seems brutally early, but somehow we manage to get the Turkey to school by 7:00am. Some mornings, though, we are greeted with a stunningly gorgeous sight that makes the early hour seem not so bad. Like today.

Lest you think these pictures were taken by the driver, please know that the Turkey picked up my cell phone and began snapping away while I drove. Those smudges on the photo are not from lens fingerprints but a dirty windshield. (Also known as a reminder to wash the car this weekend. Hear that, Turkey?)

Dirty car aside, it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

5771

2010-09-09T22:12:00.000-04:00

Happy New Year!

Public Schools were closed today for Rosh Hashanah. It's the start of 5771. I think. At least that's what someone told me today. I think. Maybe. Or maybe he got it wrong. Or maybe I'm remembering it wrong. Anyway, happy new year to those who are celebrating the beginning of what might be 5771!

Because schools were closed the Turkey decided to come to campus with me today and hang out with a friend. Said friend graduated high school in May and is now a freshman at Maryland. For blogging purposes I'll call her Chica.

Holdthephone! HER? Did my fingers just type HER? The Turkey's hanging out with an older woman?

Yep. Older woman alert!

She's a really sweet girl, too. The two met this summer while they were both working at camp. It's a totally platonic relationship .... Oh wait. You're thinking, "Right. Platonic. What are you smokin'?" But this is the boy who won't date anyone unless they can hold a conversation about quantum physics (!) and wouldn't even THINK about liking anyone at camp because it was *wrong* to date someone you work with. Uh huh. This boy definitely didn't get his dating ideology from his mother!

So today, on the first day of 5771, platonic friends Turkey and Chica got together at the student union, had lunch, and talked for three hours before the Turkey chivalrously walked Chica to class. Aww! Not only that, Chica had wanted a salad for lunch so Turkey, the boy who doesn't especially like salad, ordered one too. A chicken caesar, no less! I nearly fell out of my chair when he said that. Of course, he also said that Chica still has a boyfriend, but I say you never know. *wink*

May your year be off to a wonderful chicken caesar start. Happy 5771!

Labor Day

2010-09-06T23:05:00.000-04:00

Are you ready for some football?!?!?!

This Labor Day I tackled my labor du jour -- mowing the grass -- before the fun. And I do mean F-U-N!

You may have seen it on ESPN (or maybe not) but Maryland played Navy today for the first time in five years. It was quite a spectacle! So as not to give either team an unfair field advantage, the game was played at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. Normally, it is home to the Ravens so there was a multitude of purple present. Heck, even the soap in the bathrooms was purple! Purple carpets. Purple seats. Purple printed menus. Purple banners. Purple signs. Did I mention purple soap? Purple, purple, purple!

Oops. I got sidetracked by the purple. Where was I? Oh, yeah...

It was an utterly gorgeous day in Baltimore. 80 degrees with very low humidity -- almost unheard of in these here parts!

Terps warming up and the stands starting to fill.

The 30 companies that make up the Brigade of Midshipmen take the field for the National Anthem. They spanned the ENTIRE field. It was quite a spectacle.

The Navy band was the last to arrive -- you can see them coming on to the field in the far right -- and they filled-in the end zone.

Terp fans decked in red in the purple seats, with the Brigade still on the field. See them on the jumbo-tron?

Bet you were starting to think we were just there for the pomp and circumstance and not really the game, huh? The game was actually really good. The basketball players were .... what? ... they weren't playing basketball? ... Hee hee! Got you! I totally knew they were playing rugby. :-)

Seriously. The FOOTBALL game was good. Lots of action, some good fumbles and not-so-good plays, and the right amount of Maryland scoring for us to leave as very happy campers. I took the picture above from our seats which were awesome -- first row of the second level, and right on the 45 yard line. Scha-weet!

The Mighty Sound of Maryland takes the field at half-time for their usual pre-game show. Although the timing was a little backwards -- pre-game at halftime -- the band sounded and looked good for their first appearance of the season. The mega huge Maryland flag is always my favorite part of the show so I just HAD to get a picture. Heck, I get a picture of the flag EVERY time so don't be shocked if it makes an encore appearance some time this season. Hee hee!

Final score: 14-17 Maryland! Yay!

Up next: back to school and work. Boo!

Sweet! Sixteen!

2010-09-05T09:23:00.000-04:00

It was 1994 and the Friday before Labor Day that I began a journey called parenthood. This year, on the Thursday before Labor Day I began another journey -- teaching a teenager to drive. EEK!

Rewinding just a smidge, let me say that Thursday was the Turkey's 16th birthday. For weeks, and even months, I had been fostering the notion that I was dead set against letting him drive any time soon. Heck, I would have been delighted if the Turkey moved to a bustling metropolis and neglected to get a driver's license until, oh, some time around the responsible age of 29. Just sayin'.

So I am not sure what possessed me to let him get his learner's permit on the anniversary of his birth, but I did. Not only that, but I planned it as a big, huge, mongo birthday surprise for the Turkey.

I picked him up from school on Thursday with an iced caramel latte in hand (his fave) and as we were leaving the school nonchalantly said, "our first stop is home where you'll need to change your shirt and shave, because you don't want to look like Shaggy in your driver's license photo." The Turkey nearly fell out of the car he was so surprised! Heck, so was I! It took him a moment to recover, to be able to speak, to be able to breathe, much less smile and acknowledge his glee. And glee it was!

Here he is taking the test. The final score was ... drum roll, please ... 20/20! Hooray!

He had passed the test, signed the forms, and we were waiting for the license to print. This is one seriously happy Turkey!

Success!

As we left the MVA the Turkey said his face hurt from smiling so much. Aw! He was super surprised. JUST the birthday I had hoped for! But the surprises were far from done ...

This was his first time behind the wheel. We found an empty parking lot and I coached him through the first 20 minutes of parking lot driving. It was simple stuff -- getting the feel for the car, how to put it in gear, operating the pedals, wipers, lights, turn signals, etc. He did well. I did well. We all did well.

Next up: dinner with the fam. The Turkey regaled everyone with the tale of getting his license. We laughed. We talked. We laughed some more. We ate. Then the Turkey opened his presents which included a check for Driver's Ed. Yowser! He was super surprised at this because I had told him the Driver's Ed schedules weren't compatible with his school schedule. Liar, liar, pants on fire! Again, more broad smiles from the Turkey and more comments about his face hurting.

After the surprise check for Driver's Ed, his next present was a new touch screen phone. It just so happened that the phone is manufactured by Virgin Mobile and, naturally, their logo appears prominently on the packaging. See:

This elicited many comments from the assembled, resulting in my sister becoming embarrassed and turning the same shade as the Turkey's shirt. It was priceless! Needless to say, the phone is now referred to as "The Virgin." Hee hee! :o)

But wait ... there's still more! After dinner the Turkey had the choice of flying or driving. This was a rough choice for him, but he finally settled on driving. We headed to a somewhat empty parking lot, put him behind the wheel again, and talked him through some moves for about 30 minutes. He also got a new book and a video game that he had been "needing." (Really, he had been begging me for it most of the summer.)

After a late night, a happy sleep, and seven hours of school the next day, it was the Turkey's chance to celebrate his birthday with his friends. And where would 16-year-old boys want to go?

Hooters! As the Turkey said, "Two of my favorite things: chicken and breasts!" I just shook my head and paid the tab.

So that was it. A 2-day feast of surprises marking the 16th anniversary of the Turkey's birth. He still says his cheeks are sore, which I take as a great success. Yay!

Good bye, dear camp

2010-08-04T19:37:00.000-04:00

The closing ceremony for the Turkey's summer camp. It's also a lesson in how 16 people retire the colors. Speaking of color, the Turkey is the one in the red t-shirt. (Just in case you couldn't tell.) He also cried when he left. And then he snuggled into his own bed in air conditioned splendor and was home.

En Why Cee

2010-07-31T10:24:00.000-04:00

I had me some acelatheraphy last week. That's right: one trip to NYC via Acela. Wheee! It was a business trip mixed with some Nephew Lovin' and a brief visit with my brother and his bride. Here's a quick run-down of my 28 hours in the big city:

This is acelatherapy in action. Nice seats, extra leg room, foot rests, curtains, and overhead compartments just like on a plane. It even smells good. Oh, and not crowded on this particular Wednesday morning, either. Score!

More bonus points awaited when I checked in to the hotel:

Ohmyluckystarsabove! This was my room. MINE! I felt so grown up and didn't want to leave. Oh my. Super comfy furniture, exquisite details, superior service, and an oh-so-mumfy bed. If you are ever in NYC and need to stay near Times Square, check this place out. You won't want to leave this slice of heaven on earth.

I couldn't resist just one more hotel picture. This leaded glass window was the backdrop for cocktail hour before dinner. Oh, and dinner...YUM!...Branzino "Saltimbocca" and heirloom tomato salad with a bit of chocolate tart and homemade vanilla gelato for dessert. (As I reach for the napkin to wipe away the drool...)

Yes, yes. The business part of the trip included a dinner at the hotel with 20 or so folks. Why not stay there as well? Natch.

My meetings the following morning were canceled so I found myself meandering down 5th Avenue for a while. Well, if you can call a walk from 53rd to 38th in summer heat a "meander."

And then over to the financial district:

I quickly discovered why it's called the financial district. One needs to have SeRiOuS finances to park there!

Some lovin' and snuggles with this little dude were all free, though:

Argh! I was so busy providing some Crazy Aunt Jess love that I forgot to pick up the camera until the end. After a couple hours of hanging with me he was tie-erred! Aw.

Honestly, I was plum tuckered out, too. It had been a long 28 hours and I was anxious to get on the train and head home. Within minutes though I was scheming about how to get back to that hotel. Maybe TWO nights next time!

Fire trucks and Fins

2010-07-19T23:14:00.009-04:00

Author's Note: the conversation below is an actual conversation between Pink and the Turkey that took place this evening. No names have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent. Drat.

Turkey: Do you want to know why firetrucks are always red?

Me: Um. Sure? Wait. Haven't you told me this before? I can't remember. You KNOW I'm not good with jokes,

The Turkey cuts eyes towards his mom, tilts his head a smidge, and is silent. I hate the silent treatment.

Me: But go ahead.

Turkey: So, 1 plus 1 is two, right?

Hearing an affirmative mumble he went on...

Turkey: And 2 plus 2 is four, right? And since this is the third step, three times four is.... ?

Me: 12!

Whew! I never know when the trick questions are coming my way so I was deliriously happy to know I got a serious math answer correct. Score! If I had only known how fast the bubble would burst...

Turkey: And there are 12 inches in a ruler, right?

Me: Depends on what kind of ruler you're using. But, yes, the school rulers have 12 inches. Plus a tad.

Turkey: Smirking And another ruler is a queen, right?

Me: Most of the time.

Turkey: Another ruler is Queen Elizabeth, right?

Me: Wellllllll, there have been two Queen Elizabeths. One was a ruler, yes, the other is just a monarch.

I was feeling smart. Almost ready to appear on Are You Smarter Than A Third Grader. (Yeah. I know it's supposed to be fifth grade, but I'm so not ready for prime time yet.)

The Turkey is chuckling now. I think there was some head shaking here, but it was dark and I can't be sure. Heck, he could have been recording this whole thing with his iPod, in which case I'm YouTube toast.

Turkey: The Queen Elizabeth was also a ship, and ships sail the seven seas.

Then looking at his mother and clearly stating...

Turkey: MOST of the time.

Me: Well, yes, but there are some ships that sail in the bathtub and some in the Chesapeake Bay, not to mention the Gulf of Mexico which is not technically part of the Seven Seas, so let's get real and say ships just sail in the sea. Generic SEA. Mmm-kay?

Turkey: And there are fish in the seven seas, right? And fish have fins?

Dang, he's persistent!

Me: Sometimes. Sometimes fish have fins.

Quick! Are there any fish that don't have fins? Sea creatures, yes; but what about fish? Argh!

Laughing Turkey: And the Fins fought the Russians, right?

Me: I dunno.

Hysterical Turkey: YES! World War Two! The Fins totally fought the Russians!

More laughter. Why didn't he have a stomach ache by now?

Hysterical Turkey: And the Russians wore red, didn't they?

Me: I dunno.

Hysterical Turkey: Moooommmmmm! The RED army! They wore RED! And that's why fire trucks are red. They are always RUSHIN'!

There was way too much triumph in the tone of his voice. I shook my head in the negative directions and quickly changed the subject. SKOR candy bars seemed like a safe topic. Grocery store. Tomorrow's list of things to do. Whew! Until he circled back to the Russians....

Turkey: So why were you confused at the end of the fire truck joke?

Me: It just didn't make sense. Why did you have to bring the Russians into this? I mean, what happened to the Confederates? They wore red.

This stopped him in his tracks.

Turkey: No. No, they didn't.

Me: Confederates! Yessss.... Oh, wait. No. I mean the Red Coats! Confederates were blues and grays. I was thinking about the British Red Coats. Those guys. With the red jackets. They wore red and their uniforms were a lot more fashionable than the Red Army. Duh!

At this point the Turkey lost it. If he was laughing before, he was cackling now. Then he was doubled over at the waist and slapping his knee. Did he really have to add those? I mean, jokes about my age and something about being blonder than my highlights AND knee slaps? *Heavy sigh.* Wait! Maybe I could blame this on my new pink sparkly highlights? Now there's an idea!

He's baaaaaack!

2010-07-17T19:21:00.000-04:00

Shake, rattle and roll

2010-07-16T15:27:00.001-04:00

I was awake at 5am. I could hear a louder-than-usual train in the distance. Then then train whistle. Unusual. Hmmm? Changed positions, fluffed a pillow, hunkered down and pointed the internal compass toward Dreamland again. Somewhere in the mid-sleep mumble -- you know the one: it's the might-or-might-not-be-asleep-but-feel-oddly-somewhat-conscious phase -- I heard the cat jump up on the dresser. I knew it was the dresser because the jewelry and assorted perfume bottles and meds started rattling. Then a thud and a rumble as the cat jumped down.

Wait. We don't have a cat.

Huh?

I was awake now. AWAKE!

I blinked a couple times and listened to see if the floorboards would creak but didn't want to move too much in case there was someone/something unexpected in the house. All was quiet. Very quiet. Hearing nothing more, I figured it wasn't a burglar, refluffed the pillow, rolled over, and happily went back to Dreamland. After all, maybe it was a squirrel playing a rough game of tag on the roof. Maybe? Or maybe my dreams were just super vivid and I imagined it. Maybe?

An hour or two later when I was awake for real (that second pillow fluffing worked great!) I learned it was not a cat. Not a squirrel. Not a burglar. Not even some part of a crazy dream, but a ... hold on to your hat ... it was an earthquake! Seriously! How cool is that?!

But if there ever IS an unexpected some one/thing in the house in the middle of the night ... sigh ... at this rate I would probably offer him or her a cold beverage and cucumber sandwiches, some cookies, and strike up a conversation. "Ever been to Niagara Falls?" "Where did you go to high school?" "Really? Police Women of Broward County is your fave TV show?" "Oh, and go ahead and take the tray out from under the sandwiches. Honest. It's only silver." "Here's a goody back of extra sandwiches and snacks, too. No sense in being hungry while you're playing burglar." "Love the early Halloween costume, by the way."

My head is already shaking in shame.

Scout Camp v. 2010

2010-07-15T22:01:00.000-04:00

I got mail yesterday. The real kind. Not a bill, not a credit card offer, not something that looked personalized but really wasn't. No, this was an honest-to-goodness hand-addressed envelope with a real stamp and everything. I recognized the chicken scratch immediately.

Yes, my Turkey has chicken scratch! :-)

Rain

2010-07-12T23:46:00.000-04:00

Finally! After a long dry spell we finally have rain. I have been listening to thunderstorms this afternoon and evening from the coziness of the couch and loving it. The rolling thunder, the pitter-patter-pitter of rain on the roof, water running through the gutters and giving the plants a much-needed long drink. Ah. It makes me not want to do anything.

Nothing.

So I steam cleaned the carpets.

The definition of filth

2010-07-09T14:22:00.000-04:00

Webster's defines filth as 1. (a) foul or dirty matter, (b) disgusting garbage or refuse; 2. A dirty or corrupt condition; foulness; 3. Something, such as language or printed matter, considered obscene, prurient, or immoral. All good. The first subset -- that would be 1(a) -- is particularly appropriate, but I would like to propose an amendment to dear Webster's. An addition, as it were.

4. A boy scout after summer camp.

Just be thankful blogger hasn't enabled smell-o-vision yet! Peee-yew!

Tangier Island pictures

2010-07-06T00:08:00.004-04:00

As promised, here are all the photos from the trip to Tangier Island. If you want to make the photos bigger just click on the slideshow and you'll be redirected to Picasa. Once there click on the arrows at the top of the picture to scroll through the slides and, voila! Enjoy!

More birthday fun

2010-07-05T12:30:00.000-04:00

It is now July 5th and I am very thankful for the 3-day weekend. Yesterday's festivities were the icing on the birthday cake and I am in need of a day to recuperate before a going back to work. I am plum tuckered out, to quote the southern saying.

A handful of us gathered on campus last night for a tailgate, birthday party, and fireworks viewing. The food was yummy, birthday cake sweet, company divine, and the fireworks extraordinary. It was a perfect 4th. Glow sticks and all.

Happy birthday!

Birthday!

2010-07-04T09:01:00.000-04:00

Today is the country's birthday (Happy birthday, USA!) but yesterday was all mine. Well, mine and a few thousand other people who claim July 3rd as their birthday. I don't know what all those other peeps did to mark their annual birthday milestone but I was fortunate enough to have an grand adventure. The full story will have to wait a day or two because I'm in between parties and have a "to do" list as long as my son's legs, but read on for the highlights.

Tangier Island was destination #1. There are only two ways to get there: boat or plane. We took the plane. The airstrip takes up 1/3 of the island with the other thirds being residential and boat docks. I'll get you a map of Tangier soon but here are a few shots taken yesterday:

That's the island in a quick nutshell. Here's a shot of our mode of transportation and pilot, and proof that I was IN the plane:

After a few hours of fun exploring Tangier we headed west to Williamsburg. Here's what it looks like from the air:

We landed, refueled, chatted with the airport staff and then took off towards home. A little over an hour later we tied the plane down, filled out the logs, checked in with the family, and headed out for dinner. Then to a local fireworks show. It was a fabulous birthday!

The festivities continue today at the annual fireworks tailgate on campus. I'm so looking forward to seeing a bunch of friends and celebrate both the country's birthday and mine. Again.

Happy Fourth of July, my peeps! I hope you all have a fun-filled celebration. Don't forget the sunscreen and be safe. :-)

Moose pants

2010-07-02T13:51:00.001-04:00

Brand new shorts, meet stains. Stains, meet shorts.

Not just any stain, mind you. We're talking top o' the line oil-based paint. Oh yeah, baby. Brown paint on green shorts. It looks lovely. (NOT!)

I noticed the stains while doing the Turkey's laundry earlier this week. When he was questioned about the origin of said stains the reply was, "oh, that's from the moose."

Did he just say "moose?" Was he at a petting zoo? Was there a moose at camp? Were the kids playing an old Rocky & Bulwinkle game? Is that moose droppings or just plain moose? Did he really mean "mousse?" How the heck was my kid tangling with a moose?

My questions were answered when I dropped him off at camp again.

Remember this elegant dining hall? While they could have had MOUSSE here he was really referring to the MOOSE.

See it?

Here. Here's the close-up:

Ah. Hi, Mr. Moose! That's my Turkey's handiwork (says the proud mom).

Or would that be shortstainediwork and broke-from-buying-new-shorts mom?

THIS is where he works

2010-06-29T09:08:00.000-04:00

Unfortunately there were cars behind me or I would have screeched to the side of the road to get a picture of this sign. Ya'll would have gotten a big ol' laugh out of it. I am going to try to recreate it as accurately as possible, though.

Imagine yourself driving through a very picturesque small town in Pennsylvania. It is a hot summer day and not a cloud to be seen. On the right is a sweeping expanse of manicured green lawn with immaculately placed bushes, day lilies, hydrangeas and ornamental grasses on a gentle rolling slope. Around the sides are pockets of mature and healthy trees providing shade to whoever may choose to run through the grass. Rabbits, birds, squirrels and groundhogs all call this place home.

The lawn ends at a paved driveway that snakes up the hill. There is a sign with white lettering on a dark blue background that proudly proclaims this as:

CHRIST'S HOME

OFFICE

Wow. Just wow. Who knew Christ had a home office in Pennsylvania?!?!

Next time I promise to stop and take a picture for you. Pinky promise!

Road trippin'

2010-06-28T10:18:00.000-04:00

After I dropped the Turkey off at camp this weekend I realized I had a free day on my hands. So after stopping for a cold beverage I decided to see where the road went. That road there, the one on the left. I usually veer off to the right to go towards camp, but this time I turned left.

Then I turned right.

Then left.

Then straight at a 4-way stop sign.

And pretty soon I found myself here:

This is about an hour north of camp. It's the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania. I had stopped at an orchard, a winery that was closed (bummer!), and meandered through all sorts of adorable small towns before arriving here.

Here's another view of the river:

It was a calm day so the water was quite reflective. So reflective that... well, see for yourself:

I was sitting there feeling as if the river was watching me. LOL!

Thumbs up!

2010-06-27T22:17:00.002-04:00

Good news from camp -- the Turkey is enjoying it! I headed up there to pick the kid up for his first day off and was greeted by a filthy, sweaty, stinky teenager with rivers of dirt running down his legs, tired eyes and a grin as big as Texas. Gosh, I really hope that kid was mine!

Turkey dude had a good 36 hours ensconced in air conditioned splendor. His first stop was the shower. (Thank goodness!) I think he took at least 3, if not 4, showers while he was home. There was laundry, 2 nights in his own soft bed, a haircut, a run to the optical shop to get his glasses fixed, some of his mom's cooking, snacks and snacks, computer games, and then packing for the week to follow. It was over in a flash.

The next morning it was back to camp. The Turkey got out of the car, grabbed his stuff and was off. Um. Hell-lloooo? How about a hug for mom? At least a high five? Apparently not. I shouted, "Hey! I might love you!" as he disappeared into the trees and that was it.

It.

Until Monday night and his next day off. :-)

Let the adventure begin

2010-06-19T21:32:00.001-04:00

Welcome to summer camp 2010! Three days ago I dropped off the Turkey for his last day of school. Today I dropped off the Turkey for his first day of summer camp counselorhood. Besides his weekly day off, here's his home for the next seven weeks:

The first order of business ... raise the flag! This ritual will take place at 7:50am every morning. Breakfast is at 8:00am. That's the pavilion directly behind the flagpole where all the meals will be served. Notice the lack of walls, air conditioning, white table cloths, chairs with cushions, and silver serving pieces. (I know you can't see the serving pieces in this photo so you'll have to take my word for it. Plastic. White plastic.)

This is the male barracks. Hotel? Accommodations? Tents? Whatever you want to call it (them?), it's what you get with the boy scouts' version of Hilton Honors.

This is the Turkey's room for the next seven weeks. See those two air conditioning units in the back? They look like big ol' holes in the tarp and, upon closer inspection, they are! Score! Who knew there would be AC here in Boy Scout Camp Land? Wonder if they have turn down service every night, too?

This is the view from the Turkey's front door flap. That's a fire pit surrounded by chairs and a "couch." He's got a great spot for the marshmallow roast.

The barracks are nestled at the end of a path through the woods. Lots of woods. But here's what's at the start of the path:

That, my pink turkeys, is the bathroom. Glamorous, is it not? The designer really did a fantastic job of bringing the outside in. Super trendy. I just wish I had gotten a sneak peek at the tiling inside. Betcha it's gorgeous.

*cough!*

Sarcasm aside, this beats pitching your own tent every night, the kitchen is not far, the bathrooms include running water, and the pallets on the ground really do help to keep the critters at bay. Somewhat. The staff is super great, too. I really think he's going to have a great time.

Bye, my Turkey! Have fun! I'll see you in a few days for your day off and a dose of home cooking, air conditioning, laundry, and a comfy mumfy mattress. Before taking you back for week #2.

Libraries

2010-06-18T11:52:00.001-04:00

We are big fans of books in our house. BIG fans! When we were in NYC a few years ago the Turkey actually cried real tears when he realized the New York Public Library's shelves weren't for public perusal. Real tears, folks! It would have happened at the Library of Congress too, except we found a door that we could peek through and actually SAW books! Whew. Granted, these trips both happened over 3 years ago but I like to think the examples are still valid.

More proof of the rampant Book Love in our house:

On the Last Day of School our first stop was the library to pick up some new tomes before going out for celebratory pizza. We ate pizza while reading. That was 2.5 days ago. Both books the Turkey checked out have been finished.

The Turkey's favorite t-shirt was the ONLY shirt he ever purchased while on vacation. It was purchased at the Library of Congress and looks like this:

Said t-shirt was retired only when a teenage friend commented he mistook the last word as "boobs." The shirt was never worn again. Yes, folks, books won out over boobs!

So when I came across this list of the most interesting libraries in the world, well, any of these would qualify for the Turkey's Ultimate Vacation. Yowser! Flip through it and you'll be floored. I was. And what a happy moment to discover we have already visited one of them. :-)

But just in case you are flying through one of these cities and want to purchase a book instead of just borrow it -- helping out the local economy, natch -- you can also put these most interesting bookstores in the world on your ultimate travel list. There's some serious ooh and aah here. And yes, we've been to one of these, too.

The MDDs are back

2010-06-17T11:57:00.000-04:00

MDD? Huh?

Mom Detection Device. It looks and sounds like a jingly bracelet and serves to alert an unsuspecting teenager (or sometimes VERY suspecting teenager!) to the imminent arrival or whereabouts of said Mom. The light jingling sounds -- a gentle clinky-clanky-swishy-wishy jingle -- are well below the obnoxious realm but just enough to perk up teenager ears and let him know Mom is on the move.

Most mornings I slip on an MDD after attaching matching earrings to the lobes. This habit is usually employed in the warmer months because never ever ever would an MDD compliment a sweater. Ick. The sweater would be pilled in a heartbeat. So instead of killing sweaters, I rely on the MDD in the summer to perk up the wardrobe and provide an inherent jingly soundtrack to life.

Most unfortunately for the Turkey one of my MDDs is currently on the fritz. It has lost most of its jingliness due to excessive ~~use~~ love. I guess the beads just got tired of being tossed around like dice and decided to amscray. It was a silver bracelet with all sorts of jingly goodness dripping off of it. Drip indeed! Anyway, I've been looking for a replacement and found this lovely thing on etsy:

Oh, WOW! What a conversation piece! Conversation meets jingles. Nice.

My birthday is coming up...

Just sayin'.

The amazon list has been updated...

Again, just sayin'.

Memorial Day 2010

2010-05-29T10:41:00.002-04:00

The long weekend started with an early wake-up call for the annual flag placement at the Veteran's Cemetery. It was an overcast morning, cool and pleasant, which helped the time go by quickly. (So did the sugar high from the donuts and sodas the boys had!)

Getting instructions.

Planting flags.

The carillon and main gate at the cemetery.

Wishing you and yours a safe and happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Help wanted

2010-05-28T15:16:00.002-04:00

HUNTER needed to decimate dust bunny population at Chez Our House. Must do floors and bathrooms too. No prev exp necessary. Killer attitude, cheap pay, easy hours, gratuitous blog postings, (im)possibly fun work environment. Apply here. EOE and LOL

Departing Design

2010-05-23T23:00:00.001-04:00

We were catching up with the latest episode of the quintessential CBS Sunday Morning this afternoon -- yes, morning in the afternoon; DVR's are a great thing -- and found this particular video to be most conversational. G'head. Click on that link. You'll be back in less than 5 minutes.

Did you see it? Did you watch the video?

Yes, the video is called "Designing for the Departed." It's all about coffins.

*cough!*

Coffins? Huh?

"Huh?" is right. But did you see the coffins that look like folk animals? How about the vegetable? Fire truck? The paint-it-yourself ones? (Granted, that would take some planning. Don't die before your coffin is finished!) The eagle? Abe Lincoln's? There's a lot of "huh?'s" to be had in these 5 minutes.

Besides the giggles and the aforementioned "huh?'s," the best part of this particular video was the conversation betwixt -- what a great word! -- betwixt us two turkeys. Have a listen:

     Turkey: You're gonna want one now, aren't you?

     Me: Not as a coffin. Maybe as art.

     Turkey: Not even a pink turkey coffin?

     Me: Nope. Just cremate me and turn my ashes into diamonds. That way I can keep sparkling.

     Turkey: (laughing hysterically) I'd wear you. (...and after a pause...) It gives new meaning to the phrase "who are you wearing."

Happy day!

2010-05-04T20:40:00.000-04:00

When I picked up the Turkey this afternoon he informed me that today, May 4th, was International Star Wars Day.

May the fourth be with you!

**insert groans and rolling eyes here**

DIY hits a new high

2010-05-03T14:39:00.001-04:00

Have I died and gone to the big cheese farm in the sky? Am I seeing things?

DIY cheese? Artisanal cheese right from MY kitchen? In a couple of hours? Oh wow. WOW!

My eyes blinked a few times to make sure this wasn't a mirage or part of the need-new-contacts thing, and then I quickly started surfing. And guess what? IT'S REAL!

Yes, my friends, you can have fresh mozzarella, ricotta, chevre, paneer or queso blanco in a matter of hours without putting a toe in the grocery store or cheese shop. Oh.My.Goodness. I am swooning at the thought of it. Mmmm. Check it out for yourself at UrbanCheesecraft and buy it here. Just don't forget to invite me to the cheese tasting party!

Photos

2010-04-30T07:50:00.004-04:00

I promised to share Maryland Day pictures with you and am happy to finally post the relevant links. Woo hoo! Click here to see the official university photos as posted on Flickr. You'll see lots of smiling faces, fun events and activities, friends of mine, the President and Mrs., blue skies, lots of green, ice cream and loads of grins. Sadly, no decorated golf carts in this heap. But check this one out:

See me? Look closely ... there! ... that's me on the far right, red jacket and holding papers. That's my colleague, Leslie, in the white shirt next to me. (Hi, Leslie!) During the time this picture was taken I was trying to be inconspicuous but obviously didn't succeed very well. *Sigh.*

Here's a shot WG took where I am VERY conspicuous:

Ugh. I was waiting for the chauffeuree to finish an event and get back on the golf cart so we could speed away to the next destination. In true multi-tasking fashion, I was also having a very animated conversation and WG was fussing at me to stay still for the photo. Ugh again. And t-shirts do nothing to elongate a neck. Triple ugh.

Two

2010-04-29T09:57:00.003-04:00

Today is April 29. Know what day it is?

If you said National Shrimp Scampi day you'd be right! But it's not what I was going for.

Another guess?

Smack in the middle of National Playground Safety Awareness Week?

Yep! But no.

National Poem in Your Pocket Day?

Yep! But no again. One more guess?

National Dance Day?

Well, we could definitely dance for this one because today, April 29, is my Blogiversary! (sing it with me...) Happy blogiversary to Pink! (cha cha cha) Happy blogiversary to Pink! (cha cha cha) Happy blogiversarrr-yyyyy to Pin-ink (cha cha cha) Happy blogiversary to Pink! (chaaaaaaa)

It's been two years of sharing little snippets of our lives with you in this small but pink corner of the web. Two years. Heck, that is longer than most of my relationships! (!!!) Even after 730 days of being a blogger I continue to be tickled pink that you, the three readers out there, keep reading. Many thanks for stopping by and being an e-friend. You really rock. Really!

(clip art found on Google Images)

Keep Calm

2010-04-26T14:35:00.000-04:00

Hot pink diggity! It's the Keep Calm and Carry On poster generator! Click on the link to read about the history of the now infamous slogan. Once there, click the "create" link at the top nav bar to make your own poster.

Obviously I HAD to do pink. (Duh!) But what does your Keep Calm poster say? What color is the background? And did you keep the crown or change to another icon? Curious but calm minds want to know...

This is how we roll

2010-04-25T18:52:00.001-04:00

Yep. These are the Maryland Day golf carts all decked out and ready to roll. The red one was for the Pres and the pink one for the Mrs. They got lots of positive press and even made an appearance in the "official" photos! I'll get copies of those shots soon and put them on the blog for ya' along with stories of the day. Suffice it to say that the rain held off and we had a blast!

Looking for something to do this weekend?

2010-04-23T09:02:00.002-04:00

If you are looking for something to do this weekend in the DC metro area, may I suggest Maryland Day? It's free, fun and humongous. After doing this for 12 years we have gotten to be pros at Maryland Day and, let me tell ya', it's da bomb! Over 400 workshops, events, activities, opportunities, performances, hands-on learning, and lots and lots of fun. Serious fun! Click on the link even if you can't come out and play on Saturday. My friend the Web Goddess always enjoys the additional hits. (You're welcome, WG!)

This year my job is to decorate the golf carts for the President and the Mrs. Yee haw! I've spent a little too much office time planning the decor and can't wait to show you the pictures of the finished masterpieces. Hopefully the rain in the forecast will hold off, letting the decorations sparkle in the sunlight as planned. Fingers crossed.

If you make it to campus and happen to see an iridescent golf cart streaking across the lawn, that's me playing chauffeuress. Please wave. Say hello. You can even follow me to the free ice cream. ;-)

You're welcome.

I won!

2010-04-22T15:27:00.002-04:00

Holy cannoli, Turkeys. Remember the last post when I said you wouldn't see me this week if I won the lottery? Remember?

What? Oh, OK. I'll pause while you go back and re-read.

*whistling*

Welcome back.

Remember the last post when I said you wouldn't see me this week if I won the lottery? Well, I lied. Flat out lied. L. I. E. D. Lied.

"Wait. Does that mean you won?" you ask.

HECK YEAH! I was up late last night and thought to check the winning numbers shortly after the 11pm drawing. You can imagine the whooping and hollering and general hysteria that ensued. WOO HOO! YIPPEE! Oh, what a time!

Even though it was after 11pm there was no chance for sleep. What happens first? What is the priority purchase? Do I get another car? Who do I take on The Vacation? Where should we go? How soon can I quit the job? Does the Turkey go to school tomorrow? Should I laminate the winning ticket so nothing happens to it? Would the lamination render it void? What percentage gets donated? Does this winning get a blog mention? Do I sign the ticket now or wait? When should we move? Is the chicken in the fridge still good? What color will the new furniture be? Should I call and wake him/her/them up with the news or wait? What percentage of the winning is invested and how?

I am certain there were many more thoughts that just didn't survive the night. The overarching thoughts are still how best to spend the money and when. It's just so exciting and a little bit overwhelming. little bit

Huh? What's that? You want to know how much I won?

Um. Well, I guess I could tell you. I didn't have to sign a confidentiality clause or anything. Just make sure to hold on to your hat because this is a shocker.

Ready?

Here goes....

I won $4. Yep. Four buck-a-roos! Yee haw!

Needless to say, I'm still at work and still driving the same car and The Vacation is a long way off. But do let me know where you want to go and maybe we'll get there some day.

I just need to win the lottery first. :-)

Happy Week

2010-04-19T09:48:00.000-04:00

Hello and happy Monday!

(Happy Monday -- that sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it?)

I'm just stopping by to say "gooooood morning, sunshine!" and then be on my merry way. If you don't see me back here this week it's because I won the Powerball or Mega Millions (or both! *squeal!*) and am sunning myself on a tropical island somewhere. Without cell service. With a butler. And a pool boy. Let's not forget the chef and personal trainer, either. Oh, and the architect who will fly in with drawings for the new abode. The Turkey and friends will be coming in for the weekend. And I'll be blogging occasionally. Between margaritas. And the man.

Tattoo: De Plane! De Plane!

Happy Monday, turkeys!

WWBD

2010-04-15T12:02:00.005-04:00

After partaking of the free coffee this morning from Starbucks -- Decaf with half-and-half, meet pink travel mug. Pink travel mug, meet decaf with half-and-half. -- I hopped in the car and starting ~~driving~~ crawling towards work. An accident on the parkway made the journey longer than usual but that was OK because of the free coffee in the pink travel mug. Nothing was getting me down, no sirree!

The commute was rather uneventful if you don't count the desperate need to pee by the time I finally reached the office (TMI?) and the bacon brain detour.

Yes, you read that right. Bacon. B-A-C-O-N. Bacon.

See, I had mentioned a bacon sculpture to my friend PMG yesterday and remembered that I needed to relocate it on the web and email it to him at the very least. At most, it deserved a facebook post, photo taped to my office door, a brief blog mention (ta da!), or something similarly inane. Would either Prank Place or Archie McPhee have some fun bacon themed products? (For the record, yes indeedy!) What about the dark chocolate and bacon bars found in NYC last December? I need to add bacon to the grocery list. What does one mix with bacon infused vodka? Are any of the bacon t-shirts at Snorgtees on sale yet? Why does bacon smell so good when cooking? Hey, if I cook bacon for the Turkey tonight I'll get serious mom points. Should that be eggs and bacon for dinner, or stuffed chicken breasts with crumbled bacon in the stuffing?

The brain was on bacon overdrive. By the time I walked into the building I was SMELLING bacon from thinking about it so much.

Or was that the cafeteria in the building? Let's say it was the cafeteria, shall we? Thanks.

Once in my office and with the computer humming right along, Google helped relocate the aforementioned bacon sculpture. Google also helped locate a few more fab places:

The Royal Bacon Society - a blog about bacon. Bacon recipes, bacon gifts, bacon porn, bacon pet stuff, links to more bacon sites ... bacon, bacon, bacon!
The Sticky Pig - candied bacon. My mouth is watering already. Salty plus sweet? Mmm hmmm. Human catnip, here we come!
Bacon Today - another bacon blog, but this one has serious news stories and even music and videos devoted to bacon.
Bacon Freak - the Mecca of bacon shopping. Yee haw!

Needless to say, the morning's bacon brain detour has been a continuing theme. It's crowding out the work, unpacking its suitcases, and frying up some fun.

Here's looking at you, bacon.

Go ahead. Make my bacon.

Of all the bacon joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.

Let's get out of these wet clothes and into some crispy bacon.

Bacon. James Bacon.

I'm gonna make him some bacon he can't refuse.

May the bacon be with you.

...and my personal favorite...

WWBD. (What would bacon do?) Hang with the hash browns? Get crispy?

Free coffee

2010-04-12T12:56:00.003-04:00

Today is Monday which means free coffee is just 3 days away, folks. One. Two. Three. Free!

Yes, you read that right -- FREE COFFEE! Take your reusable travel mug to Starbucks this Thursday and they will fill it for free. And just in case you're scratching your head and wondering if I have finally fallen off the proverbial rocker -- why would Starbucks give away coffee? to everyone? on a Thursday? -- here is the confirmation from Starbucks' website:

Join the movement. On April 15th, bring a reusable travel mug into your local Starbucks and get a free brewed coffee.

One person can save trees, together we can save forests.

For the good of the planet, Starbucks is encouraging everyone to switch from paper cups to reusable travel mugs. One day in March thousands of New Yorkers made the switch. Join them now by taking a pledge to do the same.

Click here for details.

The pink turkey will be there Thursday, pink travel mug in hand. Hope to see you there!

(Oh, come on. You didn't think my travel mug would be any color BUT pink, didya?)

76 Trombones

2010-04-07T22:15:00.002-04:00

Well, not quite trombones. Try 76 heralding trumpets.

76 brochures heralding/trumpeting different colleges, that is.

Our mailbox has been fed a constant stream of college publications ever since the Turkey took the PSAT. It became so ridiculous that we started keeping the brochures, throwing them into a pile. The pile has collapsed several times and now resides in a box. In a box. With a fox. Fox in socks. Fox in socks in a box.

Oh, wait. Wrong story. Let's get back to it...

There is a box in our house filled with college brochures. I decided to take a look through it earlier and counted 76 different colleges represented so far. And that's only the printed pieces. I can't even begin to tell you how many more have peppered the Turkey's email box with messages. And do you know how many of these emails or snail mails have been opened? Care to take a guess?

I'll pause while you think. *pause*

Is that thinking thunk?

Ready for this? ....

3. That's right - THREE. And I'm the one who opened them!

So every day when the mail comes I just shake my head as another college brochure meets the box. Some days it's 2 and other days it's 4. (That would be 2 or 4 brochures, not heads!) If this is the deluge now, post PSAT and while the kid is a sophomore, what is coming our way after the SAT and during his junior year when, I expect, the heralding/trumpeting will be at its zenith? I am shaking my head again. Oy vey! Our poor mailman.

Secretly -- pinky promise you'll keep this a secret! -- secretly I am tickled all sorts of shades of pink that my kid and his nerdiness are in demand. It makes my heart go pitter-pat, pitter-pat, pitter-pat...as I throw yet another brochure into the box. With the fox. In socks.

A Wii bit of humor

2010-04-06T15:11:00.000-04:00

What do you get when you cross Super Mario Brothers with the Wii and stir in a healthy dose of humor? You guessed it (or didn't) -- Super Pii Pii Brothers!

Check out the website for the whole skinny on this Wii craze. What a game! My only question: does it come with toilet paper? (insert laugh track here) (People really go to great ~~streams~~ lengths for April fools jokes, don't they?)

I usually don't buy into the whole potty humor thing but this was just too funny! And if it's left you wanting more of this Think Geek foolery just point and click here. My faves are (because you're dying to know, right?) the Monolith Action Figure and the Squeez Bacon. Oh, and the Screaming Chef's Knife. And let's not forget the Wireless Extension Cords or the Programmable Tattoos. How about the USB Desktop Tanning Center?

Oh, I am still giggling. :-) Go, pop culture, go!

Reality check

2010-04-05T16:47:00.002-04:00

I'm in shock.

After regaling family and friends with stories about our recent travels -- specifically about Drew and Princeton -- and being asked a few too many times, "what's tuition at Drew?" I decided to look it up.

Hold on to your hat. And windbreaker. And shoes. And most definitely your wallet.

Tuition this year at Drew was a mere $37,310. ('Scuze me while I have a coughing fit.)

Oh, but it gets better! Here it is with room and board and fees (taken directly from Drew U's website):

Tuition:	$37,310
Room:	$6,702
Board:	$3,666

Fees

General Fee: $560
Health Insurance: $588 (required for International students)
Orientation Fee: $250 (First year students only)
Technology Fee: $125
Transcript Fee: $25 (First year students only)

The Turkey won't need the health insurance fee because he's not an international student -- oh goody! that's a $588 savings! break open the champagne! *cough!* -- but that still gives us a grand total of $48,638. Per year.

With 28 months to save for this potential expedition, and assuming college will be a 4-year thing for the boy, that means I have to sock away...doing the math so you might see smoke...yeah....OMG!...I would have to save $6,948.29 each month between now and then! *hack!* *cough!* *smoke!* *swoon*

Thank goodness the words "tuition" and "remission" are together and part of my benefits package. Thank goodness I still have a job. Thank goodness for scholarships. Thank goodness for peep-tinis. With this sticker shock/reality check I'll be partaking of some 'tini tonight.

*cough!*