9 Days, 7 States, 5 Hotels & 1600 Miles...Phew!

Where have I been? On vacation, that's where! I'm busy trying to get through the enormous pile of vacation laundry, while catching up at work (gee, only 150 emails to sort through!) and attempt to entertain my kids since they are both out of school for the summer. Oh, and I turned 34 yesterday, too. Wow.

So while I'm catching up on that, here are a few pictures from our days on the road; 9 days, 7 states, 5 hotels and 1600 miles...phew! And nobody killed anyone while in the car. Do I know how to plan a road trip or what?

Popsicles in front of the Lincoln Memorial. The Hubs and I were quoting Forrest Gump on the way up the steps and MLK on the way back down.

The main reason for the trip: my oldest friend (we met in preschool when we were four!) got married under a big tree in the South Carolina country. Fireflies, moonshine, banjos and accordions...love it. This is one of my favorite pictures of her -- she looked lovely -- just married and she's looking at me. Her face made me cry!

After the wedding we drove into the Virginia mountains and stayed near a fun indoor/outdoor water park called Matanussen Resort. I would definitely recommend it -- we had a blast! And Jack even learned how to boogie board on their pipeline. I was so impressed with him! Cute, right?

One of the best parts about traveling around The South?

THE FOOD.


I finally got to try a fried green tomato -- something I've been wanting to taste for years. Until last week, I had never even seen a fried green tomato, much less tasted one. My review? It was GOOD. Crispy on the outside, soft and seedy on the inside. It reminded me of a fried zucchini with a much stronger flavor, but in a good way. We also sampled real sweet tea (or "swate tay" as they call it in the south), boiled cabbage, sweet potato pie, ribs, home fries, collard greens....YUM. I know I gained at least five pounds on the trip but, who the hell cares! I got to eat a fried green tomato, people! And BTW, I've totally mastered that I have to let the server know if I want sweetened or unsweetened tea when ordering -- out west, you order an iced tea and you get unsweetened. Period. There is no swate tay (giggle).

The Hubs and I finally got to show our kids how to fish; we've been wanting to do that for a long time. Such a peaceful picture, isn't it? Little did we know chaos was about to commence; this picture was taken right before we locked ourselves out of our friends' house and I almost got my eyes scratched out by a demon cat...but I'll save that story for another blog post.

My typical goofball kids. I wonder where they get that from?


Here we are sitting in front of the United States Capitol building. We were sweating our balls off that day (it was 87 and soooo muggy yuck!), but we got to tour the whole city on a trolley which gave us a nice break from the heat.

Today, The Hubs is back at work, the kids are happy to be sleeping in their own beds again and I've got leftover birthday cake in the freezer. Life is good!

Yard Wars

I've met most of my neighbors. It can be a tricky thing to meet the neighbors, mostly because our homes are on an acre each and it's a long walk to the next house....yuk yuk yuk!

OK not, really. The real reason is people here mostly stay to themselves. There are lots of retired folks near us and, although they will wave back at me if I wave to them, they usually just do their own thing. No problem.

Another thing I want to mention is in Philly, fences aren't a popular item in yards. No one has a fence! When we first moved here, I swear we saw people driving down the street, their heads out the window, while they proceeded to holler and whistle out the window for someone named "Sparky!" or "Chance!" I can only assume their dog ran away.

Um, well DUH. Call me crazy but, when you don't have a fence around your yard, your dog *might* run away.

Also remember that I came from Vegas...where the best plants were the cactus and the palm trees on the strip. I suck at growing and maintaining plants. I've never had a garden. I know how to water house plants...and sometimes not even that. So, when it comes to the yard, I claim ignorance (and I don't have any damn time to learn, either, so don't suggest it all you crazy garden people!)

So anyway, our yard also doesn't have fences, so we sort of share a yard with the neighbor next to us. They're an almost-retired couple. I've only met the woman once -- when she came over to introduce herself. I think I got two (maybe three) words in. She told me how she had a master's degree in horticulture, what prestigious college her kids attend (because I fucking care, right?), that my house needed a new roof and that the bamboo in my yard would eventually take over my entire grass area. Um, thanks?

Her yard is amazing. It has fountains, beautiful flowers, perfect dirt and she is out there working on the yard ALL.DAY.LONG. Every day. But can you blame her? She has a fucking master's in horticulture.



I'm out in the yard every day, too. But I'm relaxing on my patio, basking in the sun, playing Words for Friends while my kids scream and laugh on the Slip and Slide.



There are weeds growing at the edge of my yard.

The flowers I bought to pot are still in their original plastic containers.

I even killed my grass in the spot where the Slip and Slide was....tee hee oops.

And every day, I hear my beotch neighbor rustling around in her bushes, an occasional cough, a random spray of her hose.... I imagine her peeking through her flowers, glaring at me while I sit and lazily play on my phone....while my weeds grow and the bamboo takes OVAHHHH!

I even once heard her husband talking smack about our yard. Not sure if he knew I was on my patio or not, but either way, I don't care. My yard is actually very big and very lovely. Weeds and bamboo, too. I'm just waiting for The Hubs to hear something they say about it, because he's the type that would put the smack down and yell something (hugely profane) right back at them...while I hide my face and silently snicker

But let's save that for another blog. *wink wink* By the way, those pictures aren't really our yards.

Music, Cocktails, Dancing....and Dishes

In between packing lunches, driving to baseball games and keeping up with my crazy busy life (when actually, it's not my life that's busy; it's my kids and husband that are busy...I'm just the glue that holds it all together, which means I'm busy, too) I have a certain hour every day that I take for "me" time. This hour is what keeps me going and I look forward to it every afternoon.

You want to know what I do?

I do the dishes.

First let me say that I HATE doing dishes. That was my main chore as a kid -- just ask my little brother...I used to pay him a dollar to help me. Only we didn't have a dishwasher for a portion of my childhood and, once we did, it was one of those pull-it-around-and-plug-it-into-the-sink ones. Yeah, cause we were old school like that. Anyway, I hated the dishes then, and I still hate them now.

However, I have found a way that makes them fun...and so, I've created my "me" time.

My secret? I plug my ipod into my Bose speakers, turn up my Pandora station (my favorite right now is the Vast station) and...(this is the best part)....dance and sing loudly around my kitchen. I'm sure the neighbors would get quite a show if they tuned into my kitchen window every afternoon at 4pm.

Sometimes I will have a cocktail. Sometimes I will have peppermint tea. But always, I have my favorite music, dancing (which always makes me happy and burns calories, too!) and the dishes. If I'm lucky, my kids will come and join in on the dancing. And somehow, before I know it, the dishes are done, the kitchen is clean, and my day is better.

Need your own inspiration? Just to give you an even better visual, here are some of the songs I've been loving on lately.

This first one is such an uplifting, fun song. I sent it to The Hubs and he said "catchy but it doesn't have enough rage in it for me...." So funny -- he listens to old man music but he still pretends he's in a mosh pit teehee.

Good Life by One Republic



I just discovered this next song and I LOVE it. Love. Love. Love. It's gritty, sassy and it makes me want to put on my cowgirl boots and dirty dance...meow!

Ain't No Rest For the Wicked by Cage the Elephant



Here's an oldie but goodie. You know how you forget about a song, and then hear it a few years later and love it all over again? Yep, this is that song for me.

Walk Into the Sun by Dirty Vegas



Somewhere a Clock is Ticking by Snow Patrol



Get Activated by Gerling



Howlin' For You by The Black Keys



Price Tag by Jessie J