Calling it Quits

I've had a realization. I don't want to blog anymore. The reasons are numerous, and mainly are these:

1. Not as many people are reading as I'd like. I know, it's not very mature of me. But it's important. I don't want to be blathering into the blogosphere for eleven readers. Especially since I've been blogging here for almost 4 years. That's pathetic. Blogging sort of feels egotistical to begin with, very self-analytically masturbatory, and if no one's reading, it's even worse.

2. It's just one more loose end that I feel like I'm ignoring. I'm doing so many great things, but even if I have a great time and whatever I'm doing is blog-worthy, I feel like a failure for not taking pictures, editing them, uploading, and blogging no more than 24 hours later. I'm having much more fun reading other people's blogs, anyway. I need less on my to-do list.

3. I'm losing touch with my real journal! Seriously, the last entry in it says... July 14th 2007. THREE YEARS AGO. Oh, help. Journaling consistently since the age of eleven is one of my proudest endeavors. I have all my journals. You can't "have" a blog on the shelf, unless you're lucky enough to get your blog published, and let's face it, my best writing is scattered here amongst the "oh, I haven't blogged in a month" hurried posts. Le sigh. (Just in case you were wondering, the real written entry from three years ago begins, "Well, its my day off and I had an awesome sleep-in-- it's now 10am and I've been reading for a little while.. Harry Potter 7 is coming out in 1 week and I want to be totally ready." Truly, words worth keeping for a lifetime, no?) But its true that a blog doesn't let you write about the real, real things you need to be writing about. The stuff at the back of your mind that really deserve reflection. Maybe one of the reasons I feel at odds with myself is the lack of proper journaling. We'll see.


So, I guess this is my good-bye post, for now. I can see myself starting another blog at some point in the future, maybe a little more focused. This one has run its course. Thank you for reading!

Home from the Honeymoon!

And of course, thoroughly jetlagged. It wasn't hard at all to get used to LA time (see my extremely jazzed husband above, fresh off the plane with our rent-a-Cube), but for some reason as soon as we got on the plane to fly back to the East coast, all Kenny and I can do all day is sort of lamely lean our heads against the nearest wall and fall asleep. I'm babysitting this morning, so hopefully the natural exuberance that sheds from three girls will rub off on me.

A big post full of luscious pictures will be coming soon! For now, imagine you're high above the Valley, having hiked almost straight up the side of a dusty hill, and are now enjoying the cool breezes of Southern California that blow by "Ginger Rogers' Tree."


(again, crappy iPhone picture, but try to imagine how impressive this was in real life.)

We are so lucky to have this new restaurant!

Today Kenny and I ran our big loop again (we estimate between 4.5 and 5 miles), and afterwards we swung by Friends Cafe in downtown Williamsburg, next to the library, for an iced coffee.

We walked in, though, and hey! The place has changed hands and is now called Koge. It's billed as Korean/Latin fusion and it. is. Amazing.



The space is clean and modern, with incredibly delicious sounding offerings, mainly Korean style but offered in a lot of choice ways. We weren't hungry yet, but couldn't walk away from all-of-a-sudden-here's-a-hip-new-eatery Korean fare, so we ordered a few different fresh veggie options, including the homemade kim chee (which was perfect, and we have high standards), the scallion green salad, and another crunchy, perfectly spiced dish simply called "pickled Asian slaw." We loved that it came in little black to-go boxes, which helps if you're trying to do some portion control and eat half your food later.



The guys who own and run the place, Sam and his cousin (Phil?), are frankly worried that without the college kids around, and being all of two blocks away from the tourist traffic, their yummy ship might sink. If you're planning on visiting Williamsburg or know anyone who is, or hey, if you live here, please go by on a lunch break and check them out. Sadly, what they have oodles of in menu planning, they seem to be lacking in PR. No web results, no signage, no Facebook page. What gives? Hopefully, the guys will pull things around and do a little more to get all those hoardes of hungry tourists out of the crowded coffee shops and into Koge.

Little tiny bits of honeymoons...

A week after our wedding, Kenny and I went down to Portsmouth to see Michael Franti and Spearhead, whom I have loved since the 9th grade (that's 1996, people. 13 years of love). I befriended another hooper in the crowd and she whispered her intentions to me, "We are getting up on stage before the end of the night!" Some girls just manage to get up on stage. Or backstage. I've never been one of those girls, but there have been times that I've latched on to those girls at just the right moment. (See also: freshman year of college, in Philly at the Free Mumia rally, wherein I manage to hang out in Wavy Gravy's hotel room because I followed some friendly girl up there. Yeah, Wavy Gravy totally let us order room service for breakfast, and showed us his photo album. I remember his pajamas were a little bit on the see through side.) This lady was totally going to make it happen, I could see it in her eyes.

Well, despite the Spearhead show being sold out in Asheville, we arrived at the amphitheater in Portsmouth to see it literally half empty. Sad! But it made for fantastic hooping. I could be really close to the stage and still have enough room to show off and dance and have fun. After skipping after Michael as fast as I could on his several impromptu runs around the audience, rain sprinkling on all of our faces and the band playing their instruments scattered among us, I had the thought, this is enough. I don't need to get up on stage, because this is fun enough just as it is. Kenny and I had run 4 miles that morning for the first time (and still the only time, for me, pretty much) and I had on my big Vietnam boots and a strapless dress, and my arms were wet from the rain and the sweat. But then, only then, did the chance come to get up on stage (with the kiddies!) and hoop next to my brave new friend. I was using a hoop I'd never touched before that very second, as I had just sold the one I'd brought to some friendly drunk lady who kept lending it out and then asking me to help her find it again. Anyway, the chance came, I grabbed the nearest hoop I could find, and hauled my sweaty self up on stage. Here is how it all went down from there. (You can't really see me until about 2 minutes in.)



I have to say, again, that I was pretty slippery. That hoop wasn't getting much traction on my skin. And, hello, nervous! I forgot all my tricks. At one point I dropped the hoop and at another I accidentally launched it at the bouncers off stage. It was exciting to be up there, but all I could think about was not wanting to block the band. I thought we were maybe too far forward on the stage, and that we should really be behind the band. But the vainest part of me would like you to know that I'm really proud of the definition in my upper back! I had no idea you could see my shoulder blades until I watched this.

After the show, we scored backstage passes to go meet & greet with the band. Michael Franti said he remembered me from the last time I saw them, at the Orange Peel in Asheville several years ago, and I'll just believe him because that would be a dream come true. We did share a bottle of water, after all... And I had just finished reading Stranger in a Strange Land and i remember thinking, "oh, god, we're water brothers now! This is awesome!" Anyway... I'm glad Kenny was there this time, and that we got to chit chat with Michael Franti. An awesome mini-honeymoon. Next week we're going to LA for the first time, for a whole week. Hooray!

Sneak peek: ceremony shots!

We don't have our "pro" shots yet, but there's a steady stream of awesome pictures rolling in from friends & family. Here are a few I couldn't help but share:


Beautiful bridesmaids, in my favorite colors.


My Mom's homemade jam: favors for our guests.


Seated guests wait patiently and watch the York River roll by.

I can't believe how gorgeous everything was when it all came together. I truly love our wedding. More pictures to come!

Oh, so priceless is this vacuum.

(K & I "registered" for cash & gift cards, since our lives are so full of stuff already). One material thing we really did need for ourselves was a good vacuum cleaner, so last night we took our Target cards, pooled them together, and got:



Ohhh, yes. It does amazing things to our apparently nasty carpeting. Oh, the hairballs this thing picked up! And it's so tiny and light. I love it. It reattaches to itself in a number of clever ways, so no additional hoses/attachments/junk needed to clutter up the corners of the living room. It needs no bag, which is enough to sell me on it right there. The filters are HEPA certified (or something) and you just rinse them out every few months. Improves your air quality and whatnot. But the best thing about it...



...is that Kenny likes it so much, he was vacuuming as I walked in the door from work this evening. He continued pushing the thing around the apartment, commenting with a mixture of fascination and horror at all the crud it was so easily picking up. And then, then, he sat me down for a new vacuum orientation.

I love this vacuum.

Wedding prep: what our iPhones caught

Oh boy oh boy oh boy. I am so excited for many reasons, the most of which being that I finally have caught up on enough sleep to make me feel like blogging! It was rough, y'all, but it was equally rough on all of our little worker bees [including, but not limited to, braidesmaids, significant others of bridesmaids, groomsmen, significant others of groomsmen, siblings, significant others of siblings, assorted parents and step parents], and we were all sleep deprived together. Our wedding prep-fest turned out to be a delightful, albeit stressful at times, five day extravaganza of prepping, shopping, assembling, partying, and sleep deprivation. Let's document from the beginning, shall we?

Wednesday: people begin arriving. We make a giant curry and stir-fry at night and play Hoopla. Sadly, no pictures exist from this night, as we were all too excited to be together after so much time apart. People roll in from Vermont, LA, Asheville, Brooklyn, Portland, JAPAN (!), and Charlotte.

Thursday: dress shopping and primping with the bridesmaids; creepy cookout with the worker bees in the dark (we rented a time share for all of our out-of-town guests to play in, which had a tiny grill way off in an adjoining field). The parents escape to the breathtaking North River Inn in Gloucester to bond. The kids show their stripes by hosting a midnight feast of grilled veggies and shrimp (mmm). We kick off the first of several nights in the giant hot tub that also came with the time share.





Friday: insane rush of activity. I have a few Bridezilla-type moments, but am comforted by the fact that everyone is working their arses off. Escape to The Ceremony Site with stage manager and officiant, to plot and plan. Bring parents along. They are much comforted by the site, which makes me feel like a responsible kid. Airport pickups ensue, completing the gang. Quick run to the gym to pick up sports equipment, and by a quirk of fate, also run into my flower girl & her mama, who just arrived in town. Afternoon finds us prepping the jams my Mom canned for wedding favors, and then all the girls are off to get pedicures. Rehearsal dinner starts at 8:00pm. I arrive with my entourage at 8:30. We all learn how to throw pizza dough and write words with our toppings. There are toasts, and a talk-through of the ceremony plans. The thirty-two of us don't leave Florimonte's deli until close to 11pm. Return to time share to roll 40 sushi rolls for guests to nibble. Kenny is kidnapped by groomsmen, given Jaeger Bombs, and is given a stranger's stylish fedora at a bar. The men return to our apartment around 1am, and spend the next hour declaring their heartfelt love for each other, until the girls break it up to finally get some sleep. Kenny and I remember that our vows are as yet unwritten, and take a few minutes to remedy the situation. Finally asleep by 3am or so.






Saturday: Run the Wedding Day 5k with 5 people total. Up at 7am, but great success! Faster than before, no stopping, lots of talking and cat-calling to people on the sidewalks. Homemade t-shirts and a cheap veil are worn by all. Hooting and hollering and congrats follow us down Duke of Gloucester street. Afterwards, we all depart to shower. My maids come over, we play dress up for an hour, then go to the show. And after all that, with sparkling eyes and clean clothes, we begin...


... actual wedding content to follow!

This made me laugh so hard today...

This post on CakeWrecks made me laugh so hard today. (Click over to the link; the text is funnier than the pictures, but you need to see them together.)

Also, I loved Iron Man II. And more also, tomorrow morning Kenny & I are going to try to run a 5k around downtown Williamsburg-- that we also want to do on the morning of our wedding. Wedding Day 5k! Who's in?! Don't worry, we'll all be done in time to shower before sprucing up.

Oh, and also: INSPIRATION.

Well, you can't win 'em all.

Okay, so one day last week I ran a mile twice at the gym (one before my Zumba class, and one after), and yesterday morning I ran my fastest mile so far (9:34)-- which is not all that fast in the grand scheme of things, but it felt like hard work-- and I worked out with my trainer yesterday evening, but have gotten zero exercise besides those things. Also, there may or may not have been some very splurgy meals, calorie wise. (They may or may not be happening pretty much every time I open my mouth at this point.) But while I was busy making poor food choices and not going to the gym, I managed to:

- make a giant To Do list of wedding things with Kenny, which is going to rule our free time from now til next Saturday,
- use said To Do list to go get lots of little errands done
- babysit at least 3 hours every day (that's a sweet little one I sit for in the morning up there, graciously modeling for my 1st Hipstamatic app shot)
- clean both of our cars
- get almost all of the laundry done (it's tough when you have the smallest and also the loudest washing machine in the city)
-drive to Charlotte and take my Mom & brother out to a combo Mother's day/ 27th bday meal
- oh yeah, and go to LEAF.



Check out these boutonnieres, eh? And bridesmaids' bouquets! They may not look very professional (and the picture is quite crappy), but they're pretty close to what I had pictured in my mind, and the total cost of materials (with plenty left over) was $12.68. The Williamsburg Pottery is officially the weirdest place I have ever been, but they really come through for you with the cheap deals on incredibly random things. There will be plenty of more weird wedding-related Pottery purchases in future posts, I assure you. Oh, and you can camp there in your tent for $16/night. You know, just in case you're coming to the wedding...