home again, home again, part 3

i got to be home for one whole day before i was off again! this time, a little closer, and driveable. it was the last of the prides for the season, down in san diego.

setup went quicker then planned, so i actually got to take advantage of the amaaayzing pool at the hilton bayfront, which, as you might imagine, overlooks the san diego bay.

the next day was work, work, work. we were short staffed for this one, which was a bummer, because it means very long days with no breaks.

the upside however, was that the 'short' staff, were my two favorite shorties, melissa and vicki.

as far as prides go, it was same ol' same ol'.

i picked up a cool temporary tattoo - the message of which, is debatable.

we were entertained by acrobatics.

enjoyed our last funnel cake of the season.

and tried to blend in with the local color.

if you must see more, click here.

i was home late on sunday night and monday morning found me on an early flight to maryland for the next event.

national harbor is a new development (formerly part of oxon hill) across the water from alexandria.

that proximity allowed my co-worker and i to enjoy dinner in old town via the water taxi.

other highlights included a reconnection with one of the coolest sculptures ever sculpted. most of you dc metroans have probably seen 'the awakening' at hains point. what you may or may not know is that it has been moved to national harbor.

i have to say - i don't love the new location. it just doesn't do it justice. but i did like how convenient it was to go see it again!

i was also thrilled to have lara and nick, and anne and her now fiancee, brian, join me for dinner.

and of course, i took advantage of the close proximity to fam and spent an extra day hanging out with mom, kate, and kendyl.

the full gallery is here.

i've been home now since saturday night, and i get to be home until thursday! even better, thursday marks the start of my vacation. my first 'real' time off since last october. i may be crazy, but i'm planning a road trip up north. the journey will take me as far as portland, but will also include some time in nor-cal to hang out with julie and the kids.

it's ambitious given my current state of exhaustion, but i think it will be nice to use the 16 hours each way to decompress and get myself centered again!

home again, home again, part 2

after celebrating independence day in the hometown, it was off to seattle again for a different kind of work event. i had to get a little more creative when it came to the off hours, but i had some help.

first up was a night with my LONG time friend leah. long time, as in, we moved two doors down from each other in 7th grade.

after leah and her husband david picked me up and took me back to their home, leah and i decided to go see a movie. transformers was on the docket and we mistakenly ended up at a very different kind of theater. it would be an 'experience', the host informed us, and for $27 you too can have this kind of experience.

it starts with a wait in the lounge, where you can order drinks, food, etc.

when the theater is ready, you are escorted to it by the friendly and helpful waitstaff. upon arriving at the normal-sized theater, you will find no more than 40 chairs - all recliners.

once seated, you get a brief tutorial on the different amenities, not the least of which is what i like to call the magic button. at any time you can press this button and someone will come and ask what you need.

about 10 minutes in, i pressed the magic button and asked for a blanket. 'would you like a pillow as well?' why yes, yes i would.

the experience was definitely worth $27. once.

the night didn't end until 3am or so with that good ol' fashioned girl talk you can only ever have with people who know you inside and out.

i crashed on the couch, and david took me back to the hotel the following morning.

other highlights included a stop with my co-worker chris at the seattle glass factory. apparently glass blowing is a HUGE deal in seattle, but i didn't know it until i was leaving the last time.

this time we got to watch a really spectacular piece in progress, and it gave me a new appreciation for glass. i would have loved to have bought a piece, but unfortunately, they were super pricey:(

oh well, there was more fun to be had! friday night in seattle found me at another mariners game with two of my favorite friends and colleagues, vicki and melissa, with another colleague along to make it look like 'business.' ;)

i have to say that i don't think i saw one actual play the entire game. i was too busy chatting and eating and taking photos and chatting and eating. in fact, i had no idea ken griffey, jr. was playing until i saw vicki's pics a week later! it was a fun game! :)

the rest of my time was pretty focused on work, but i did drag along some of my peeps to help me follow up on a lead i'd gotten.

apparently there is a lesser known landmark in seattle, called 'the gum wall.' it's been labeled (on the interenet) as the 2nd most unhygienic tourist stop in the world - second only to the blarney stone (which, for the record, i HAVE kissed).

the gum wall did not disappoint. it was both fascinating and disturbing. and of course, i had to contribute.

from there i played tour guide and took the gang to the space needle.

eventually and finally it was time to go home. the rest of the pics, including MANY more of the gumwall, can be found here.

...more in part 3...

home again, home again, part 1

those of you who are also facebook friends know that the last two months have been a non-stop tour de america. it's been an exhausting time filled with security lines, room service, lack of sleep, missing my dog, experiencing new places, and being pushed to my limits. i simply don't have the energy or the time to offer a detailed recap of each adventure, so for the most part, the travel log will have to be primarily photographic in nature. however, i'll attempt to hit a few highlights.

boston -

the public gardens and a ride on the infamous swan boats.

a stop at fenway's 'big green monster', although getting inside to watch a game wasn't worth the $80 for cheap seats to me!

enjoying a cold lemonade at the original cheers, or rather, the bull & finch pub, whose exterior served as the inspiration for the original cheers.

a walk along the freedom trail, including bunker hill and the uss constitution

a meal with a co-worker in her stomping grounds - the highlight of which was the bodega. the bodega appears to be the diviest corner store on the planet, complete with sun-bleached kitty litter in the storefront window. the trick is that when approaching the snapple machine in the back corner of the store, the machine slides open to reveal cherry cabinets lining the walls, filled with hard to come by urban street wear and kicks (kicks = the urban slang term for sneakers, and yes, i am totally that hip)

a rainy adventure through faneuil hall and to the granary burial ground, wherin lies paul revere, john hancock, samuel adams, and benjamin franklin's parents.

the pics can all be found here.

from boston, it was straight on to new york for a couple of days -

it was a quick work trip, for which, i opted to stay with deb after she persuaded me that it would be the only possibility of actually seeing eachother. she was right as our only real time together was a post-midnight ice cream binge and life catch-up.

then it was off to new orleans -

june/july in new orleans is a pretty miserable idea, but we were determined to make the best of it. and as luck would have it, steph was in town attending the conference i was working, and amber lives just over the border in mississippi.

first up was a vampire tour for steph, amber, melissa and i. it was so hot (at 9pm!) that about an hour in, i lost all my ability to focus on the stories and just tried to focus on not passing out. i think the others fared a little better, but we were all pretty uncomfortable.

melissa and i also took the opportunity to ride the famous st. charles streetcar and ooohed and aaahed at the homes in the garden district.

the rest of my co-workers arrived and after the first conference day we hit bourbon street for a little karaoke. actually, this is my first time ever karaoking in public, and while we were pretty terrible, it was also pretty fun.

the highlight of this trip though, had been planned and reserved almost two months prior, and melissa, jessica and i were excited to go on an airboat swamp tour.

we closed out new orleans by watching a concert by the conference entertainment, sheryl crow

the rest of the pics are here, and yes, i did actually hold an alligator.

after new orleans, i got to be home for a couple of days to enjoy the 4th of july -

i love the 4th in hb and this year was a very different experience. i drove my bike to my old house, parked, and rode down to the beach to meet some friends at the rv they had parked i the beach lot. it was a perfect 'home base' for the day.

we enjoyed the parade and all the people watching on a stereotypically beautiful huntington day.

in the late afternoon, i headed home to get cleaned up before meeting up with the d family for fireworks. i decided to take cordy along and we all had a great time.

the rest of the pics can be found here.

...more in part 2...

amen to today's note...

But Tara, what if you did have the power, the reach, and the glory?

What if you were given dominion over all things?

And what if eternity lay before you, brimming with love, friends, and laughter?

Yet still, one day, in all your radiance, bubbling over with giddy excitement, you tripped, fell, and got hurt - really hurt.

Would you give up on all of your dreams? Would you hate yourself? Would you forget life's magic and promise?

Or would you shrug it off, look ahead, and exclaim that it's "just a flesh wound"?

Touché,
The Universe

cousin night o' fun: california edition

every so often, the utah cousins get together for dinner or some other fun activity. and every so often, cousin melanie takes the opportunity to rub it in the faces of those who are not close enough to participate. i mean sure, it may seem innocent. after all, she's only blogging about it. it's not like she's jumping around singing 'na na nee boo boo,' but really, who are we kidding, the rest of us know that's exactly what she's doing. the digital version of it anyway.

well take THIS utah cousins. take THIS melanie!

i keed, i keed!

the impetus for this cousin night o'fun was actually nic's 8th grade graduation. it just so happened the cousin ken was also in town for the event.


unlike my own memory of graduating from middle school, of which, i have none, it's kind of a big deal out here. it even has it's own name. promotion.

so a big (belated) congrats to the no-longer-an-8th-grader who graduated in pink and with a variety of honors to boot!


the (no longer) 8th grader has been planning for and looking forward to this day for quite some time, and there have been a multitude of dresses modeled and paraded for the last couple of months.