Grandma Chardonnay visit

Recently, I held a biggest fan competition, and the winner was.... Grandma!!! Okay well maybe she just wanted to come visit. Maybe she just missed her oldest granddaughter. I don't know if it was previously possible for a 74 year-old woman do out do her 26 year-old granddaughter, but Grandma Chardonnay made it happen.

(NOTE: Grandma Chardonnay is Grandma's nickname because of her favorite fermented treat. She will be GC for all future purposes in this blog.)

We went to dinner in Old Town Friday night at an Italian restaurant, then walked around for a bit preparing for the next morning.

I don't think I prepared hard enough. We must have walked 10 miles!

That woman ran me ragged. We went on a monument marathon all around downtown DC. All around the reflecting pool, and to every monument! GC hadn't been here in 10years, but she still knew pretty much where everything was. I had so much fun. So far, my favorite monument is the Korean War monument. Truly a moving place.

We also saw Bob Dole at the World War II monument. What a surprise!

After the monuments we took off for the American History and Natural History Smithsonians. My favorite had to be seeing the jewels with the Hope diamond at the Natural History museum. GC and I love jewelry. I think she was actually the one who coined the hrase, "diamonds are a girls best friend." O wait, that was Marilyn Monroe...

An unplanned stop was right in the center of the National Mall. On our way home from the airport GC showed me a newspaper clipping she had brought. (Of course Grandmas will do this!)She found a Solar Energy Housing competition that was happening in DC right on the National Mall, and the Ohio State team had a house there. The Ohio State house was amazing, but I just don't know how someone could live in such a small space!

The trip ended with a trip to the National Basilica at Catholic University. Did you think my Catholic Grandmother would come here and NOT take me to church?! Ya right! We tried to find a tile in the basement of that place that her grade school St. Mary's had bought in the 1940's. It turns out that there are lots of St. Mary's and LOTS of tiles. Epic fail :)

That night as I sat with Grandma on my teeny tiny porch, I realized how lucky I was to have that special day with her. I am so fortunate to have such an awesome Grandma, and such a great role model to teach me how to live, love and drink Chardonnay.

Love you Grandma! Come back soon!

10 things I love about you NYC

I would have to say that New York and I had a love/hate relationship. Coming from Ohio there were a thousand new experiences that I had in NYC, and I am thankful for every opportunity, every friend, and every new place I got to experience. It is one of those things that you will NEVER forget, living in the big city. There were things I know I whined about constantly, and things that I found myself wondering how I ever lived without. The things are whined about were mostly new things or processes I had to get used to i.e. walking to work with hundreds of my closest friends, driving like a taxi driver...

The things I will miss most are the things that now I am wishing I could expereince just one more time...

1. Cupcakes

O Buttercup Bakery. It is yuor fault I have these mini-love handles. I just don't think I can go a whole lifetime without another one of your candy colored sprinkly cuppy cakes... After a long hard day, nothing goes down sweeter than.... well, a bunch of sugar. Magnolia and Crumbs are great, but my favorite will always be you...

2. Food availability

Where else can you get sushi/thai/pizza/pub food/groceries in a block radius. I don't know how my neighborhood did it, but it was easy to never have spoiled groceries. After getting home from work, I would just decide what I wanted to make/eat, and either go get take out (or incredibly convenient delivery), or head to the grocery store to get just what I needed. A lot of times this could be accomplished in commercial-break quickness. And it's not like these carry out places were "Okay" They were great! If you every are in the Turtle Bay/Midtown East neighborhood, check out my favorites. Tenzan for sushi. Thai 51 for thai and BYOB. Krunch for pizza, and any of the pubs right there for pub food. I heart cheeseburger sliders... and beer. I can't forget my favorite corner store on 2nd and 50th for strange and wonderful mix and match beer, o, and the GREAT wine store right across the street. Did I mention cupcakes? :)

3. The possibility of seeing a celebrity

I know we all think we are too good for celebrity sightings, BUT deep in our hearts we secretly wish to see Jennifer Aniston or Donald Trump walking down the street getting coffee. No place in the world are celebrities so frequently seen. AND you may just get to see a movie in production. I looked for the "Sex and the City" movie everywhere. I mean I was a Carrie Bradshaw for a year! :)

4. Living with two amazing girls

I miss you Lizbeth and Lyssa... I can be honest and say that I was scared to go from living by myself to living with two girls, but it was a BLAST! I have never watched so much reality television, or been so excited about bagels! I can't wait for you to come and visit. Did I mention I have windows here!?!

5. running in Central Park

There is nothing quite like working on your fitness in Central Park. It's like an adventure, and PT all wrapped into one. Sometimes it was like a scavenger hunt searching for all of the historic monumnets and sites. One time I got hit by a bicyclists. But everytime it was a great workout, and not like any other place I have every been. Check out Bethesda Fountain and the boathouse... What a great area!

6. kareoke

"Pa pa pa poker face. Pa pa poker face", I have had many fun evenings at Top Tunes on 53rd and 2nd, and I am not ashamed to say that it was always me, my friends, and the American Idol contestants of the neighborhood. Thank you Top Tunes for lowering my self-esteem, and giving us all something to laugh at :)

7. the subway

I never in a million years thought I would miss the NY subway... until I rode the Metro. Yes, the MEtro is impecibly clean, and I will never see someone eating an entire McDonald's breakfast on public transportation thanks to the Metro police, but there is just something about the NY subway. It is so accessible. Stops are everywhere, and you do not have to worry about a conductore texting/ taking naps on the job... I find it very ironic that I wouldn't ride the subway for a week when I first moved there because I was so scared, and now it has made my top 10 things I miss about NYC.

8. pedestrian code

PEDESTRIANS RULE! No matter how wrong you are about walking across the street in NYC, you have the right of way. It's like an attitude with some pedestrains. Get out of my way taxi cab! And if you don't get out of my way, I will walk right over you! lol

9. shopping

I could literally come home from work, and change shoes, and walk to every store I wanted to go to within a 10 block radius. No driving. No hassle with mall maps. No mall rats. No food courts. It makes my wallet cry just thinking about it!

10. Army PA

I miss my office. I worked with some of best people in Public Affairs in that office, and I had a blast!! I got to meet famous people, had field passes to NY sporting events, stood in the middle of Times Square on New Year's Eve and told the Soldier's story everyday!

DC will be great, but I'll always have a little piece of my heart reserved for NYC.