I spent a fantastic five days in Lake Charles, LA, visiting my grandparents for Thanksgiving. One of the days we hopped in the car (cars, rather, since there were six of us) and drove around downtown and the lakefront area to see how the city is working to recover from Hurricane Rita. This is a water park situated on a little jut of land that extends into Lake Charles, from which you can view the bridge to I-10, as well as the spot where the Harrah's Casino came loose from its moorings during Hurricane Rita.

Then there was the usual merriment - lots of food, good wine, good conversation, as well as the expected photographic silliness. Some of it involving Santa hats.

I am writing this blog post from the airport, waiting for general boarding to begin for my flight to Dallas for the holidays. What a whirlwind semester its been! I have one semester of graduate school left, and the combination of finishing my thesis and starting my job hunt is starting to get hectic and a little overwhelming. But right now I am just looking forward to getting back to the Homestead and celebrating a little Christmas.

The biggest project I worked on this semester was actually a full-fledged exhibition called If You Fall.... It was an exhibition that questioned the independent, stand-alone implications of the American Dream, and celebrated the dependent relationships in our lives. I helped make the website: www.iwillcatchyou.org.

The exhibit was the final project of my Elective Affinities class, which was a graphic design studio class that also looked at the design of various structures for collaboration. So we worked in groups a lot, and spend a lot of time talking about what type of group structure resulted in the best final product and the most satisfying working experience.

It culminated in all thirteen members on the class collaborating on this exhibit, which we installed last weekend and officially opened this past Wednesday:

I had a quintessentially American experience this summer: spending the Fourth of July on the beach in Cape Cod. I went to spend a week with the Scoobs at Cris' family beach house, and it was a blast!

As usual, we spent most of our time in a circle of lawn chairs in the yard, catching up and being silly. The only difference this year was that Charlotte was with us, and so in the middle of our circle of chairs was a blanket strewn with toys, where Lottie held court while we all socialized.

The house was in Dennisport, MA, which is slightly east of Hyannis. If you think of the Cape as being the shape of your arm while flexing your bicep, Dennisport is sort of at the bottom of your elbow and Provincetown is somewhere near your knuckles. Its a sleepy little neighborhood of summer rentals, and we stayed just a few blocks from the local beach.

(this house belonged to a Harris family, and was a few houses down from the coast road)

Lottie enjoyed her first beach experience, especially that handful of sand she ate before any of us could grab her hand. That kid had more cool beach gear than I've had in my entire life thus far!

The weather was a little cool, sometimes rainy, and often overcast, so we only spent one afternoon actually on the beach. The rest of the time we were taking day trips or enjoying the cottage. It was the perfect spot to have a reunion of all the old DC gang, and there was plenty of time to talk without feeling rushed. The food, courtesy of Lizzi, was as usual, amazing, and there were still ample opportunities for trips to the Dog House for chili dogs and to Sundae School for Grape Nuts ice cream (its a New England thing, I'm told).

There was time for the ridiculous and the serious, for playing with babies and watching fireworks standing barefoot on the beach. And I was reminded, yet again, at how lucky I am to have this crazy group of people in my life:

Thanks, Scoobs! :)

I've been out of school for two months so far, and yet it feels like more than one summer's worth of excitement has taken place!

• There was a month of recuperation in Providence: getting back on a decent sleep schedule and hanging out with the surprising number of people who stayed in town for the summer.


• Then there was the much-anticipated week in Cape Cod with the Scoobies (and now the second generation, the Scrappies), who never fail to come together and feel like a zany and entertaining family despite living so far apart from one another.


• Then I flew home and spent a few days in Dallas, where we were treated to a surprise wedding!


• Today we drive south to spend two days in San Antonio before heading up to Austin for three days. Plans are very free form at this point, but I hope that we'll get to visit the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center as well as wander around Austin's myriad cool neighborhoods. If you have any suggestions for food or frolicking, send them my way!

A friend of mine was getting rid of this little beauty before she moved to a new apartment, and I offered to give it a new home.

I am currently packing up my car to drive out to Cape Cod tomorrow morning to spend the Fourth of July with the Scoobies, and I couldn't be more excited! I have books and I have cameras to entertain myself while hanging out on the beach, and I am compiling a mix cd to play while driving tomorrow. I hope to have lots of good pictures to post when I get back on Sunday...

I woke up this morning with this line stuck in my head. I could recite exactly how it was said, and with the proper accent, but could not remember which movie it came from. This happens to me a lot, although usually with pieces of movie scores instead of actual lines. I will find myself humming the theme to a movie, and once I realize what my subconscious has served up for me, I hunt up the dvd and watch it until I can locate the location in the score where I was humming.

Thankfully, stray movie lines are much easier to type into Google than randomly hummed melodies (although there's something for that, too), and a quickly typed search on my dad's Palm Pilot revealed the answer in one try: the line is from Cold Comfort Farm, declared by the utterly clueless Mr. Myberg as he arrives uninvited to Elfine's wedding.

Today, however, this line is completely appropriate. It IS a marvelous day for a wedding! A truly PHPC wedding, in fact, between two people I have known since one fateful Mo Ranch Junior High Celebration back in middle school. Zack and Beth are getting married this afternoon, and I think the entire church is going to be packed like sardines in the sanctuary to watch the event! I can't wait. :)

To the great horror of all my relatives, who were all convinced that their little baby would end up strangled in a ditch somewhere, this winter I decided to take a road trip from Dallas back to Providence. It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment decision, rationalized by my desire to bring a lovely set of mid-century modern dining furniture [thanks, Gramma!] to my apartment. I started out a few days after Christmas, and took two days to wind my way through the South before joining up with the Blue Ridge parkway to head north towards New England. I don't really have a fully-functioning digital camera at the moment, so most of the pictures I took were with my new cell phone, which has a surprisingly decent resolution.

Anyways, here were some of my favorite parts:

• The sendoff. In proper Harris fashion, any road trip must begin with a proper breakfast, and this time was no different. We packed up my rented mid-size SUV and made a small caravan for some down-home good eatin' at Cindi's. Once my car was no longer double-parked by a 16-wheeler Coca-Cola truck, I was on the road!


• The music. In addition to "an indie infinitie" (the awesome mix my brother made me) and three CDs of Gillian Welch from my friend Elana, I burned a sizable collection of my own music for the road. At each hotel I stopped at, I would burn more for the following day. My favorites were the Lost in Translation soundtrack (particularly excellent for misty Tennessee mornings), the Something's Gotta Give soundtrack (surprisingly appropriate for Arkansas), and tons and tons of public radio podcasts like Marketplace, This American Life, Hidden Kitchens, and RadioLab.


• The hotels. I stayed at hotels in Jackson, TN, Roanoke, VA, and Bethlehem, PA. While the first wasn't much to speak of, my second two hotels were excellent finds! The Hotel Roanoke was a restored train depot in the heart of old town Roanoke, complete with smoky pub and swanky restaurant. They gave me a warmed chocolate cookie upon checkin (its a standard DoubleTree thing, I believe). My hotel in Pennsylvania could have been a distaster - my original reservation in Allentown boasted room service from Red Robin - if I hadn't quickly asked for a refund and booked a night at the Hotel Bethlehem a few miles away. Located at the heart of the old Moravian settlement that started the town (on Christmas Eve, mind you), my room at this hotel overlooked a snowy street bustling with shoppers heading to the Christkindle markets. At night I could hear horse-drawn carriages clopping by. It was pretty much tailor made for me.


• The scenery. Driving camera-less through the country was a real blessing for me, because it allowed me to explore without feeling the need to document. My favorite thing to do was get up really early, grab some strong coffee from a local Starbucks, and get on the road in time to see the landscape as the sun was just up. Tennessee was mindblowing - a cold front had blown through the night before, so every body of water I passed by was steaming heavily, and the steam was rising into isolated patches of fog hugging the highway.
  Ok, I lied, I did try and take a few pictures:
  

Total miles driven: 1,931
Average miles per day: 483
States visited: Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island

Its not often you get to play tourist in your own (temporary) hometown, but thats exactly what I got to do last week while my family was here visiting. We took tours, went on drives, tried out restuarants, and ogled at countless home, buildings, and churches along the way. And I craned my neck and snapped my camera enough to make even the most shameless of tourists proud. Here are a few of my favorites:

We explored a sculpture installation on the Brown quad:

And walked around the canal area before Waterfire:

We saw lots of fire, intentional or otherwise:

There was a pilgrimage to see the Corbu:

And a burning desire to eat seafood by an actual body of salt water:

We took a road trip along some amazing, time-forgotten highways:

And stayed in a Revolutionary War-era inn:

There was a lovely state park:

With spectacularly picturesque ruins:

We ate at an equally photogenic diner:

My parents capped it all off with a stay at the Renaissance Hotel Providence. Their view was also not too shabby:

View the whole collection on flickr.

Or, rather, my family's flight has touched down at the Providence airport. We will spend the next week bopping around New England and eating copious amounts of food. AND I don't have to go back to work for a solid week. Life is pretty darned good.

It has taken me a long time to adjust to the idea that I am within easy traveling distance—by some combination of bike, car, and ferry—of all those places people talk about when they talk about New England. And when I find myself in these quaint little towns or infamous beaches, I can't quite digest the idea that I can come back again anytime I want.

This weekend was no exception. A friend was staying with me for the weekend, and at about 11:30 Saturday morning we decided we wanted to go have lunch in Newport. Not one hour later, we were sitting at a table at the end of a pier, looking out into Newport Harbor, sipping margaritas while a band played Jimmy Buffett cover songs. We took a boat tour of the harbor, dodging the hundreds of sailboats competing in the Newport Regatta, and ogling the impressive array of summer mansions (including two summer White Houses) dotted along the southern end of the island.

On our way out of town we drove along Ocean drive, which took us through more mansions and out to the really gorgeous coastline where there was evidently a kite festival in full swing. There were tons of beaches and shops that I didn't even get to see, so I want to go back early one morning and spend some more time exploring. And the lovely thing about living in Providence is that I can!

the scoobs, originally uploaded by Twilight Invasion.

Matt has posted his awesome gallery of photos from our weekend in Cape Cod. They are over at flickr!

I got back Sunday evening from a lovely weekend in Cape Cod with the Scoobs! We did all those quintessentially vacation-y things: lazy mornings laying out on the beach (still too cold to really go in), and walking to the end of the road to buy ice cream and hot dogs from a couple of infamous local establishments. We also set up our lawn chairs in the driveway to listen to music, enjoy some fruity beverages, and watch Jason, Matt, Geoff, and Julie play whiffle ball in the street. The song of the weekend was Kelly Clarkson's Since You've Been Gone, along with a reprisal of Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline from our last summer vacay together in Tybee Island.

We were all staying in a little cottage in Dennisport, MA, courtesy of Cris' family, and it was totally adorable. Lizzi cooked us some amazing food in that little kitchen, and we were all able to fit around the dining table on the screened in porch to enjoy our food family style. The best ice cream in the neighborhood definitely was from Sundae School, a classic ice cream parlor that served up locally-made ice cream and fresh fruit sundaes to die for. Before we all left on Sunday, we stopped in for some seriously delicious hot dogs from the Dog House, another local institution.

Now I'm back at work, tired, slightly tanned, but missing everyone a lot. Hopefully we'll do it again next summer!

By this time tomorrow I will be on a plane - a plane to Vegas!! The Scoobies are headed to the original Sin City to celebrate Jason's 30th birthday, enjoy some amazing food and, of course, some good company. I'm staying at the Aladdin Friday night with Geoff and Julie, and then we're all staying at a timeshare a couple of blocks off the strip for the remainder of the weekend. I am so excited!

I am missing class on Monday so that I can have a little more time there, so right now I am frantically trying to finish up my first week's homework so that I am not behind when I come back. Wish me luck!

Early Friday morning we flew to Dallas to prepare for the much-anticipated wedding celebrations for Laura and Scott. Adam got to hang out and read a lot, while I joined the rest of the bridal party for all manner jobs like sorting programs and filling sachets with lavender. We did take some time for manicures and lunch at PF Chiangs before the big day:

Saturday night we had our rehearsal at PHPC before a wonderful dinner at the Iron Cactus downtown. Adam took this one for me while I was up being told where to go:

Scott's parents fed us a marvelous dinner of fajitas and enchiladas, with an endless supply of frozen margaritas to quench any thirst we might have after all that rehearsing. There were lots of speeches and a lot of laughter as stories were told and retold. I surprised even myself by giving a short toast!

The wedding was Sunday night, but Ellen, Laura, and I met up at the church after noon to get our makeup done and get some early pictures taken. Aside from the ceremony itself, one of my favorite memories is spending those last few hours with all the women congregating in the bride's room as everyone's anticipation grew.

The ceremony was everything I had hoped for Laura - she looked beautiful and happy, and of course Scott looked over the moon the whole night! Elizabeth McLean, who presided over the ceremony, tipped us off on rehearsal night that one of the best people to watch during the wedding march (we couldn't see Laura at all because of where we were standing) is the groom's face because he's usually looking pretty thunderstruck. Another memorable part of the ceremony came when Elizabeth had Laura and Scott (and all of us on stage) turn towards the pews so that the congregation could recite a dedication. It was a powerful moment for me, looking out on everyone gathered there, so obviously filled with love and hope for these two people.

And then we were done! Another reason Presbyterians rock - the entire ceremony clocked in at under 30 minutes. We gathered all of our stuff, and rushed downtown to Union Station for the reception. We had some funny moments in the waiting room, trying to figure out the various ties for the bustle of Laura's dress, but ultimately we get it all sorted out and it was time to party!

I didn't get to see the two of them much after that, but I did get to dance with everyone from PHPC and a few people I knew from my earlier years at Preston Hollow and Franklin. The band was playing some great music. When it came time to leave, we all lined up on the DART platform outside of the station, and then threw lavender at Laura and Scott as they ran towards their very own train car that carried them to their hotel! As far as wedding exits go, it was pretty darn cool.

And right now they're probably still in the air en route to Thailand for their honeymoon! I guess I'll have to wait until they get back for pictures, but I have some great memories for now.

After lengthy delays in DFW, I finally made it home to Virginia in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. But, hey, I'm still at work and almost functioning! Caffeine is my friend.

The rest of my trip to Dallas was a blast. We did, indeed, head out to IKEA and wander around the showrooms a bit. We also got a look at the coolest minor league baseball stadium thats right next door - when its not 104 degrees outside, I'd love to catch a game there.

Sunday was a leisurely day of reading and watching movies. Storms blew in that afternoon, and we spent some time sitting on the front porch doing something quintessentially Texan: speculating on the rain. When it did finally come, you could see movement in houses all down the street as people watched. Across the street, our neighbors came out into their courtyard and started cheering. Its been a long, dry summer in Dallas.

Sunday night I got my Tatum fix while the family gathered at Buca di Beppo for dinner. She is still the cutest baby ever, and I don't care what you say, I swear she understood the drawings I made for her on my menu. Our family is growing by leaps and bounds again - my aunt Nancy and her boyfriend Jim announced they were getting married! Jim's family was there as well (this should have tipped me off, but I was oblivious) and they fit in well with our loud and raucous group. Afterwards Jeff and I met up with Laura, Scott, Ellen, Steve, and Wes at the Old Monk for drinks.

I took the day off on Monday, so I was able to enjoy a delicious breakfast with my mom and brother at Cindi's - a vintage Dallas eatery that hasn't changed much since Mom and Pop used to take me there as a kid. Even after all these years, Jeff and I still giggle at the unfortunate combination of the Casket Store and the Boxes To Go outlet next door.

No trip to Dallas would be complete, however, without a little Boggle. So we met up with my grandmother for lunch at her place, followed by some serious Boggling. Gramma, Jeff, and my mom are some of the few in the world who will actually still play Boggle with me (my Aunt Virginia being one notable exception, but she's notorious for making up words) so I enjoyed myself thoroughly.

It was one of those perfect weekends where you see everyone you want to see, but still feel like you have time to relax and enjoy yourself. And, even better, I get to go back in three weeks!

I flew by stealth to Dallas yesterday morning in order to surprise Laura and Scott. A lunch of the PHPC gang was planned in lieu of a shower, and so Judy and Ellen conspired with me to come join in the fun. Ellen and I, without intending it, ended up sitting one seat away from each other on the same flight, so we were able to ride in to El Fenix (where else?) together. Our group consisted of Dr. Bill, Judy, Steve, Laura, Scott, Ellen, Margaret, and me. It was really fantastic to sit down with all of them again and reminisce.

Afterwards Ellen and I scoured the swanky new Northpark Mall for silver shoes to go with our bridesmaid dress, courtesy of Scott. :) And of course a homecoming wouldn't be complete without a dinner at Angelo's with my family.

Today is a little more loosely scheduled, although the idea of a breakfast excursion to IKEA has been floated. Tonight the larger Harris contingent is descending upon Buca di Beppo to see each other - I'm just glad I could be here for this one!

I didn't bring any form of camera on this trip, which feels a bit odd but also freeing. I'm here to just enjoy.

I went up to Providence a second time this past weekend, part two in our attempt to find somewhere to live while I am in school. It was an equally frustrating and exhausting trip, but this time I think we found it! Its a small, two bedroom townhouse on the East Side, about two blocks east of Wayland Square. Not that that means anything to most people, but its a little over a mile's walk from campus, and on bus and trolley lines should I need to get there faster. Wayland Square is an area with shops and restaurants and, most importantly, Starbucks. Its also three blocks from Whole Foods, which means I might actually be able to walk to buy groceries! Besides our must-have items, the place also has windows on three sides and a working fireplace - features I hadn't even bothered to put on my wish list but will thoroughly enjoy.

In between tours I did find time to take one of those amphibious vehicle tours that start by driving around the city and then drive right into the harbor and show you the sights from the water. This was so much fun! I've seen these types of tours in several cities and always wanted to try them, and the weather in Providence was so perfect that I signed up for one Sunday morning before I left. I posted a bunch of pictures in my flickr account. Here are a few I thought were interesting:

Cheap flights home were all sold out, so I ended up taking the Amtrak Acela train back to my car at BWI. It didn't cost too much to upgrade, so I got a first class ticket! This was great fun - my ticket included complimentary dinner and beverages for the trip, so I could order anything I wanted off of the menu and a waiter brought it to my seat. Barely crowded to begin with, the train all but cleared out after we left New York and I had a nice relaxing ride home. Given the hassle of driving through New York, we might look at train travel as a way to get to see friends and family along the east coast.

I'm writing from our room in the Radisson Providence Harbor View, which I don't think is as nice as the Biltmore (where we stayed for my interview), but its certainly in a good location. We got here in the dark around 11:30 last night, and drove around a deserted warehouse district undergoing serious road construction, until we saw a delapidated, handpainted sign telling us where we could park our car. "Ghetto" was an appropriate word. This morning things looked a little nicer, and I can see flowers and road landscaping that I missed last night. But we still won't be taking a leisurely stroll from the hotel anytime soon. :)

We went to see our first place already - a first floor apartment in a neighborhood called Fox Point on the East Side of Providence. Its off a little main street with restaurants and offices and funny new age shops offering palm readings and tarot cards. Its all a bit shabby, but in a nice way that tells you it wasn't part of some behemoth suburban developer's master plan. The apartment was nicely maintained, although not as large as the 2 bedrooms advertised. But the kitchen was updated, and the current tenant, a RISD architecture major finishing up her degree, had painted all the rooms in great colors that I approved of. Its one house down from an old stone Catholic church (with bright red doors!) with a French bistro on the opposite corner.

We came back to the hotel after our tour, and Adam is currently zonked out on the bed while I make use of the complimentary wireless internet. Despite all of my work to make this search as stress-free as possible, I have a feeling he will need a nap after every house we visit. ;)

I've been back a week now, after spending a week in Dallas hanging out with my family. I went up on Memorial Day weekend, and stayed until the following Saturday. It was such a nice vacation! I liked not feeling like I had to cram tons of activities into my typical one weekend trip, and I got to catch up with a ton of my extended family too.

First and foremost, my house had been infected with a crazy case of Maverick fever. I've never watched or talked so much basketball in my life! Every morning the Dallas Morning News would have huge, blown up pictures of Dirk Nowitzki (who is, I have to say, a really scary looking man) with dramatic 60-point headlines like "50!" (when they won) and "Never mind" (when they lost). This pride and excitement for a basketball team is a relatively new sensation for longtime Dallasites, a situation underscored at work when a coworker admitted he'd never even heard of a team called the Mavericks. But, for the sake of my dad and brother, I am rooting for them in the playoffs this week. :)

I went down to Dallas with a project already planned - because what is a vacation without a project? I wanted to archive all of my family's old vhs and hi8 videos onto DVD, and I had bought a dvd recorder online in preparation. Things didn't quite go as smoothly as I would like, but, four trips to Best Buy later, we had a decent vhs capturing setup. I spent the whole week dubbing home movies, church musicals, graduation videos, and tapes from our summers at Skyline. It was fun watching home movies, and my inner librarian had a blast sorting and archiving everything.

Another project for the week was spiffing up the courtyard on the east side of our house. On the morning of Memorial Day we all trekked down to the Dallas Farmers Market, where there is a whole street just filled with plants from local growers. I wish I had such a resource here! We filled the Explorer with all sorts of azalea bushes and hanging baskets and flats of annuals, and then spent most of Monday outside planting.

Monday night we had a lovely dinner with the whole big family at Macaroni Grill, minus Alison and Eric and Tatum. But I got my Tatum fix a day later at lunch with my mom, aunt Carol, Alison and Tatum. We ate at local Mexican food restaurant who's claim to fame is that the owner invented the frozen margarita machine. A generation of college students on spring break thanks him.

My grandparents came into town Wednesday, and although Jeff had started his summer semester, and my dad had to go back to work, Mom and I had fun touring the Arboretum and going over my granddad's home movies. We even endured a little "adventure" while eating breakfast at La Madeleine, where we were pooped on - twice - by pigeons. Apparently its good luck when this happens, but I'm reserving judgment. Of course we had to cap a visit from Grandad and Meemaw with a big dinner at Angelo's, which was, as usual, delicious.

Jeff also turned 25 while I was in Dallas. With all of those home videos lying around, we just had to drag out some of our favorites from over the years to torment him. My favorite is from the Christmas where he got a big, red plastic guitar. He spent the whole Christmas day perfecting his rock and roll boogie, and my dad spent his preserving this embarrassment for future generations. I'll have to put that one online for all to enjoy at some point!

Our last bit of excitement came later in the week, when my mom happened to look out the front window one morning and notice 4 Channel 11 News trucks in our front yard. Turns out they'd been broadcasting the news from our front lawn since 5:30 that morning, and none of us had noticed! We tuned in only to see that the one distinguishing feature of house visible in the broadcast was the pile of leaves that hadn't been raked up yet. Oh well. ;)

Adam and I are headed up - weather permitting - to Portland, Maine, this afternoon. Matt and Lizzi are hosting their traditional seder dinner (God was consulted, and doesn't mind us shifting the dates a bit), and scoobies from all over are making their way north for the occasion! Can you say brisket? :) Really I'm excited to hang out with everyone before the craziness of moving and school takes over, and I want to see this great little town that Matt keeps posting gorgeous pictures of!

We fly back from Maine on Sunday, and the following Thursday my parents are coming to visit! We'll have four days to explore the area and eat lots of food. Although my mom stayed with us during the moving week, this will be the first time my parents have seen the apartment really finished without boxes and paint everywhere. A day trip to Leesburg and the Virginia wine country is being planned, and of course time to wander around DC! I can't wait!

I flew up to Boston the Friday before New Years to spend some time with the Scoobies. Jason and Cris picked me up from the airport, and we spent Friday night catching up and hanging out at Julie's apartment.

We had a relaxed Saturday morning and then trekked into the city on the T to check out where Julie's classes are. We shared a few beers at her favorite local hangout, The Tam, and walked over to the Boston Common to check out the First Night Boston celebrations. It was a great night - the snow was falling but everyone was bundled up and still having a blast. Starbucks had set up a booth and was giving out free sample lattes, and there was an awesome tableau of ice sculpture to check out.

Finally we hopped back on the T, went back to Julie's to grab her stuff, and then headed out to our own New Years celebrations! Much food, frivolity, fun, and, of course, champagne was had by all. :)

The next morning was also quite leisurely, and I was surprised by how early everyone was up. Jason made pancakes and sausage for us, and we spent the day hanging out and looking at all the zany pictures we'd taken the night before.

Unfortunately I had to leave Sunday night in order to work on my grad school applications, and it was hard to leave everyone when I had had such a short time to spend with them! Thankfully my return flight was uneventful and I made it back to DC with enough time to get some good work done. Here's to making a scooby New Years a tradition! :)

My impromptu weekend in Big D turned out to be just what the doctor ordered. I got to spend lots of chill time with the fam, as well as enjoy the crazy, sprawling wonder that is the State Fair of Texas.

I arrived Saturday, and spent most of the day poking into quilting and knitting stores with my mom. We both had it in our heads that we wanted to knit something, so we each bought needles and yarn to take home with us. Adam's mom did a fantastic job of teaching me how a while back, and it only took a small refresher course on the internet for me to teach my mom the basics as well! We spent a lot of time sitting next to each other on the couch, periodically exclaiming things like "Augh! What did I just do? What did I just do?"

On Sunday we headed out early to the State Fair. This strategy nets you a parking space right near the entrance, and a blissful hour to enjoy the fairgrounds before the crowds arrive. We wandered in and out of hog handling contests, heifer competitions, and a miniature donkey show. There were also the Food & Fiber, Auto, and Creative Arts buildings to spend time in, and the traditional Belgian Waffle and Corny Dog (not at the same time, mind you) to be consumed. We took a picture of the award-winning Mayhaw jelly (which we also had at breakfast - delicious!) and I grabbed lots of pictures of quilts and other various crafts. The fairground looked the best I've ever seen it, and it was a really wonderful trip.

On Monday my mom and I wandered out to explore a store called Shabby Sheep that a friend had just opened. It was so cute! It was a little fiber and knitting store nestled into a tiny cottage in the quirky/trendy Uptown neighborhood, and the owner was incredibly friendly and knowledgeable. I bought even *more* yarn (light blue Baby Alpaca - yum) to play with on my flight. Then I had afternoon tea with my grandmother before hopping back on the plane for home.

I have lots of pictures from the week up here.

I had hoped by now to have written a fun little recap of all my adventures in San Francisco with Jessey and Olga. That hasn't quite materialized yet, but I do have all of my pictures up over on Flickr. Here are some of my favorites:

For a detailed view of all the food we ate, check out Olga's pictures. :)

Well, not really. But I am going to be on vacation all next week! I've done my work for the day and now I'm finishing up those random details of travel - writing the out of office email, recording the out of office voicemail, and printing out itineraries and schedules and every map known to man.

I will be spending my week with Jessey and Olga (with possible cameos from Jerry and Alex), two fantastic friends from school who, until last week, had scattered themselves to various corners of the world. We'll be staying in San Francisco, but in the middle of the week we're taking a three day journey up into Napa and Sonoma for some wine, winery tours, wine, wine, wine and cheese, wine, wine and gourmet food, wine, and wine. :) I can hardly wait!

They say San Francisco is a cloudy, rainy place, but apparently not in September:

I don't know what sort of internet access I'll have while I'm away, but I promise to bring back an embarrassingly large collection of pictures. :)

Adam and I are home from Tybee, safe and sound! It was such a great week, and I can't possible write it all down now, but I've loosely collected some of my favorite memories to share.

• Fish Camp Cottage. The cutest cottage ever, even if no one saw it but Adam and I.
• ShopSCAD. A store in Savannah where students, alumni, and faculty of the Savannah College of Art and Design can sell their creations. It was immensely inspiring to me. All the girls left with at least one piece of jewelry from it.
• Gryphon Tea Room. After shopSCAD, Matt, Lizzi, Julie and I ventured across the street for some refreshment. Housed in a restored, turn-of-the-century pharmacy, the building also had a short stint as the SCAD art supply store. The interiors were filled with dark wood paneling, upholstered ceilings and Tiffany lamps. Their tea sandwiches were to die for.
• Fort Pulaski. Despite the opressive heat, Jason, Julie, Matt and I ventured outdoors to tour Fort Pulaski. Built to fortify the nation's coast after the War of 1812, the fort was occupied in the name of the Confederacy before the Civil War. The Union took the fort back, and in the process changed modern warfare forever, through the revolutionary use of rifled cannon. We saw a 5 foot alligator in the fort's moat.
• The Lady & Sons. Restaurant started by Paula Dean, of Food Network notoriety. She did not disappoint, serving up some of the most delectable food I've ever had. My meal of grilled tilapia, jasmine rice, asparagus and sauteed mushrooms - all topped generously with crab butter - goes onto my list of ten most memorable meals.
• Kayak tour of Little Tybee. We saw dolphins as we headed out in the morning, and took a break on a giant sandbar. After landing on Little Tybee, we took a walk on the beaches and collected shells (I promptly left mine in the pocket of my life jacket), smushed our feet in dense, black marsh mud, and watched herons congregating in a tidal lake. We ate homemade pb&j sandwiches on the bows of our kayaks before heading back.
• Tango Restaurant and Tropical Bar. We rang in the end of an era and celebrated Cris' birthday at a local hotspot. I had a mouth-watering filet mignon servied with, what else, sweet potatoes. Everyone enjoyed huge, brightly colored drinks in tall pilsner glasses. Even Adam (inadvertently) got some trendy water in a huge decorative bottle.
• Lizzi's cooking - Beginning with a 4 hour, $400+ grocery shopping expedition. No matter where we turned Lizzi was cooking something new for us. Chocolate-filled puff pastries, cake, pie, even a batch of kugel! Dinners of burgers, veal scallopini, and lamb kebabs with a heavenly homemade marinade.
• Learning the ins and outs of Texas Hold 'em from Jason and Adam. Actually winning a hand with a full house!
• Late night walks down to the beach, discovering bioluminescent organisms glowing green in the sand every time you took a step. Poking at a recently deposited piece of driftwood and having the thing light up green like an ember in a fire.
• The Scoobies. Its a obvious statement, but going on vacation with seven of your favorite people is such an awesome thing! Laughing at wacky inside jokes, sipping rum punch on the beach, giving everyone tacky (temporary!) tattoos, playing board games, or just hanging out in the living room after a long day - they're small things, but they add up to an incredible, wonderful experience. :)