I'm Leaving On a Jet Plane...

... to meet Brain in Texas!  We've decided to hold our wedding festivities in the fantastic city of Austin and our plan is to - fingers crossed - have a venue secured by the time we board our flights home.  Speaking of return flights, I haven't even seen Brain yet and I'm already dreading the flight home to North Carolina.  Sigh... I sure do love that boy.

P.S. I love this site.  Leah writes thank you notes to everyday objects, emotions, or activities.  Reading it is like a little reminder that we have a lot to be thankful for - even the things that are quintessentially "bad" have a lot of good in them.  Here are two of my favorites!

[Post it note from thxthxthx]

Back to the Grind

I just returned from a fabulous and fun-filled week long vacation in which I jetted off to Hermosa Beach, California to visit one of my best friends, followed by a trip to Dallas to hang out with my sister and her hubster.  Photos are below.  But first, a little music to set the mood:

While in California, I rode my bike on the Strand (the boardwalk), layed on the beach, went to a Bar Method fitness class, waddled around for the next 24 hours as a result of said Bar Method class, ate great food, and enjoyed a fun night at a local comedy club.  Not too shabby for 4 days of leisure!

My ride.

Next stop: Dallas, Texas.  I had the chance to meet all of my sister's coworkers and, later, played on their baseball team, the Bernstein Brewsers.  We narrowly lost the game, but had a great time... and I had three base hits!  Go me!  I also had lunch with my boyfriends parents, who live in the Dallas area.  Oh, and did I mention that my sister and I also had a spa day?  Tough life, I tell ya.

Play ball!

Katie's bruise, acquired while playing catcher.  It looks a lot worse

in the photo than it did in person if that tells you anything.

Team pic!

But that's not all!  I found out on Tuesday that my boyfriend would be arriving home a few months early from his deployment to Iraq.  He was home by Saturday (!!) so I made a quick stop in Tennessee that afternoon before flying home to North Carolina on Sunday.  Not a bad way to end an already spectacular week, if I do say so myself!

Overall, my trip was great.  It was both fun and relaxing and, while I had a great time, I'm excited to be home and ready to become a SENIOR.  (Just under) one year down, (just over) one to go


* Yes, I posted this exact content, word-for-word, on my anesthesia school blog.  (Because I can, that's why!)

Welcome Home, Soldier!

The Return from Iraq - Awesome video clips here

My man just finished his second deployment to Iraq and is en route home.  YAY!!  (Sorry, for the random syllable in all caps, but I had to... I'm simply giddy with excitement!)  Upon seeing him, I'll be like that young girl in the video above, though probably a lot less composed.

Brain Teasers

B left for Iraq on Monday (I just received word that he made it there safely!) and, while he's deployed, I try to send him a care package a week.  He'll be gone for 9-10 months so, well, you do the math.  Knowing this, I try to purchase little things for him throughout the year so I'll have a stockpile of goodies ready to be shipped when the time comes.

I recently saw this post and really want to buy both of the following:

Not only are these kicks totally badass, they're also Asics.

A brand which both Brain and I adore.

My techie boyfriend is deployed to Iraq.  Need I say more?

Too bad this poor college kid doesn't have an easy $115 bones to drop on small, feel-good gifts.  Maybe someday...

Tail of the Dragon

Halfway through my lecture on Friday, I began to daydream.  Not about anything interesting, mind you, but about how boring my weekend was going to be.  Which is pretty pathetic because, when you're living the life of a grad student (i.e. lame), you should at least have amazing daydreams.  Sigh.

So, I decided to do something about it.  Two days isn't nearly enough time for me to drive the 8 hours needed to visit Brain at his home in Tennessee.  But meeting in the middle?  Now that's doable.  A quick text later and my weekend plans were set.  And what a weekend it turned out to be!

Brain and I agreed to meet in Sevierville, a town near Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  Gatlinburg is known for its many tourist attractions such as Dollywood and Ripley's Aquarium, but that's not what drew us to the area.  We went for the sole purpose of driving the Tail of the Dragon.

A little background: Prior to Brain's December visit to Winston-Salem, he took his Acura NSX, Roxanne, for some work at an auto shop in Nashville.  When he told the mechanic of his travel plans, the man asked him if he'd be "driving the Dragon".  After inquiring further, Brain discovered that the Tail of the Dragon is a stretch of US highway 129 situated in the mountains of western North Carolina and, with a reported 318 curves in 11 miles, it's considered by many to be the best driving road in the world.  In fact, car and motorcycle enthusiasts move to the area just to gain easy access to that particular piece of asphalt.  Rich foreigners fly their Porsches and Lamborghinis from Europe or further to experience the thrill of those few miles.  It's.  That.  Good.

Well, earlier this month I drove to see Brain in Tennessee for a long weekend.  Due to construction on Interstate 40, I was forced to find an alternate route.  Long story short, I got lost.  Like lost lost.  And I was not pleased.  That is, until I looked around and realized I was in the most beautiful place I'd seen since my 2003 trek through New Zealand.  My spirits instantly rose, and that was before I saw a sign warning drivers that they were entering the Dragon.  This made me ecstatic.  The road was insane - I couldn't wait to tell Brian about it and was sure to buy a souvenir (a Dragon sticker) to back up my story.  (It's a good thing too, as B even admitted that he would have patted me on the head and said "that's great!" while thinking to himself "she was probably nowhere near the Tail of the Dragon.")

He was jealous.

But Brain's jealous no longer.  We spent Saturday afternoon on the Dragon and other surrounding highways.  For 5 hours, B drove and giggled like a little school boy as I gripped the door handle and muttered things like, "dear God, please slow down", "I'm going to be sick", and "I'm never coming here with you again".

To put it in perspective, the only thing I imagine to be scarier is hanging over the top of Victoria Falls.  In a Speedo, no less.

 

 

 

Word on the street is that visitors are allowed to swim in the

Devil's Pool, positioned at the edge of one of the tallest

waterfalls on Earth, every September and December.

I'll pass, thanks.

There you have it, folks.  My romantic weekend getaway. 
 

He snuck a kiss without my explicit permission.  That stinker!

[Victoria Falls insanity from A Cup of Jo]

To Brain

Happy anniversary, my looooooooove!  Four years is a long time, though not nearly long enough.

[Image via FFFFOUND!]

Bubbles: Feline, Overeater, and... Groomsman?

Back in the summer, Joey Hustle, one of Brain's very best friends, popped the question to his fabulous now-fiancee. The two love birds created a wedding blog and the opening line is "Holy Matrimoly!", so you know it's good. Anyhoo, Brain and Hustle struck a deal: Brain would be deemed "best man" as long as he complied with Hustle's choice in groomsman photos. Which, for Brain, meant this:


Okay, maybe the deal didn't go down quite like that, but let's not get caught up in the details, people. What's important here is the fact that Bubbles is - for the first time in her short, fat life - a groomsman! She's quite honored and is already looking forward to over-imbibing, chasing tail, and embarrassing the newlyweds by recounting old college memories during her awkward reception-dinner toast.

 
Mazel Tov!

My Darling!

This cartoon is not only wildly funny, but also frighteningly accurate. Who among us hasn't put the attractive person spotted on the other side of the room on a pedestal only to be let down mere minutes after the initial introduction?

(Click image to enlarge)

I'm so thankful that my first meeting with Brain wasn't awkward for any reason.

[Image from FFFFOUND!]

Happy Veterans Day!

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank some of my favorite US Veterans for their service to our country.  My dad (Terry, A.K.A. "Big T."), grandfathers (Bob and Clem), uncles (Steve, John, & Mike), cousin (Jason), and the father (Joel) of my absolute favorite active-duty military member (Brain).  Thank you for the sacrifices made by both you and your families in the name of duty, honor, and country!  As my friend, Dave, would say, "preash"!

Have you thanked a Vet today?

In the meantime, check out these amazing old military formation photos:

 

[Information on images may be found here]

Ignorance is Bliss

Brain just sent me this:

I think he's trying to make a point, but I'm trying just as hard to not pick up on what that point might be.

And I'm pretty sure that I'm winning.

On The Road

Well, my two week vacation with Brain is drawing to a close. I leave for North Carolina tomorrow where I'll spend the next 4 days working in the ICU before beginning my new life as a full-time student in Winston Salem. Knowing that the next 2 years will be incredibly rewarding, yet wildly stressful, I've done everything in my power to make sure that these last couple of weeks were both relaxing and memorable.

Mission: Accomplished.

The majority of my time was spent with Brain at his house outside of Nashville, Tennessee. The past two weekends, however, we left the state in search of adventure... and a radio station that plays something other than Taylor Swift and Brad Paisley tunes. Because regaling you with stories from both trips would far exceed the length of a manageable post, I'll discuss our trip to Texas now and save our California adventures for later. Es okay?

First up: Austin, Texas...

Brain attended the University of Texas in Austin (Hook 'Em Horns!) and I've had to fight that town for his affections ever since. If you haven't been to Austin, you really must go. The music scene is unbeatable, the food is out of this world, and the offbeat locals ensure that your stay will be unique! We stayed at the Stephen F. Austin Hotel, located in the heart of downtown, and enjoyed drinking our way through the city with the help of Brain's best friend, Joe, and his fiancée, Bethany. And, man, do I love me some Joe and Bethany!

Joe, Bethany, Awesome... err, I mean Amy, and Brain

As if that wasn't enough, Brain took me to dinner at his all-time favorite restaurant, Vespaio, which was out of this world. I also drank the best mojito ever created (made with Bacardi Dragon Berry rum and muddled strawberries!) at the South Congress Cafe. The following day, I treated Brain and his buddy to a Hey Cupcake! delicacy ("whipper snapped", of course). Diabetes, here I come!

Now don't be fooled... this trip wasn't just about imbibing with friends and consuming calorie-laden confections (it wasn't for Brain, anyway). For the past 2-or-so years, my boyfriend has spent a considerable amount of time researching his dream car: the Acura NSX. While deployed, he found the exact car he wanted and it just so happened to be located in Austin! So after spending some time with the current owners, Jose and Monica (side note: I'm really good at quickly identifying individuals that rock and I'm telling you, I want to stalk Jose and Monica, they are THAT AMAZING), we sped off to spend time with Brain's parents as well as my sister and her husband, all of whom live in Dallas.

Roxanne: The newest edition to the family

Jose had mentioned to Brain that I needn't worry about the car catching the eyes of women, stating "girls could care less about an NSX. It's 18 year-old boys who are going to gawk and stare... this this is a pedophile's dream!" After the 11 hour drive home to Nashville, I can assure you that Jose was 100% correct. Recent high school graduates struck up conversations about Roxanne at every gas station we stopped at. Grown men giggled and pointed as we passed them on the interstate. Heck, we even lost count of the number of people who took pictures with their camera phones as drove by. We were virtual celebrities! And gosh darn it, being a celebrity - virtual or otherwise - is fun.

Speaking of celebrities, stay turned for the next installment: Los Angeles!

Song of the Day

Ahhh, life is good again...

Summer Lovin'

People love summer. I don't know if it is the longer days, the sounds of shit kickers playing in the streets at dusk, or the near constant excuse to eat ice cream, but they do. Personally, I think our love of summer stems from our grade school days, when warmer temperatures meant that, for 3 straight months, we weren't going to be forced to sit next to that kid who snacked on glue and boogers for 8 hours a day. Back then, summer was synonymous with freedom. And regardless of the fact that summer breaks don't exist in the "real world", months 6, 7, and 8 still somehow elicit the same sense of freedom they did in the past. It's like nature's very own version of Pavlovian Conditioning or something.

Well people, prepare to have your world rocked: I don't like summer. That's right. Summer and I? Not pals.

Growing up as a child in a military family, summertime often meant leaving the house and friends I had finally grown comfortable with and starting anew in another part of the country, which oddly enough, often featured distinctly different weather patterns than the place before it. Even during those summers when my family would stay put, there was always something scheduled to take place in the fall that I just couldn't wait to see or do.

In the summer of 1998, that "thing" was college and, my God, the start of freshman year simply couldn't come soon enough. Not only was I devastated from my high school boyfriend's recent move to Kansas, but somehow, during the week that lapsed between prom and graduation, I suddenly became much too mature to even consider attending any silly high school house parties. Fortunately, I had an ally in my sister, Deet Dee, who is a grade year ahead of me and had therefore just returned from her first year at college. Her feelings were a virtual carbon copy of my own and it didn't take long for us to agree that the last place either of us wanted to sit, wasting the next three months of our young adult lives, was in the less-than-happening* town of O'Fallon, Illinois.

Enter Ace of Base. Though best known for their 1994 smash hit "The Sign", this Swedish musical group recaptured hearts of teens everywhere after releasing their killer** remake of Bananarama's ditty, "Cruel Summer". Because that's what the summer of 1998 was. Cruel. Looking back, it was also very carefree, but for argument's sake, let's just stick with cruel.

Fast forward to the present: Brain's deployment schedule is such that he will be out of the country every January through July for the next however-many-years, making Ace of Base's lyrical masterpiece my summer mantra once more.

* I love hanging out in O'Fallon with my high school friends now. Kids are stupid, and I was no exception.

** Don't even pretend that this is not a completely apt description of this song.

Blogger Seeks Answers

Brain just sent me an email entitled "This Had Better Not Be You", with a link to a classified ad originally posted in Craigslist's "Casual Encounters" section. After reading the entry, two thoughts immediately surfaced in my mind:

1. Why is my boyfriend perusing Craigslist's "Casual Encounters" section?

2. I wonder if this girl would be up for hanging out sometime? I think we could be really good friends.

Error Mail

I just received my first actual, real-life letter from Brain since he left for the Middle East. Way back in January. (Yeah, when I said that my boyfriend was allergic to the post office, I meant in an anaphalactic-shock-type-of-way.) I gotta tell you, the only thing more surprising than receiving a letter from my favorite person on this crazy, screwed up planet of ours (besides NOT receiving a letter from said person for 5 whole months, of course) is opening the card and realizing that, until now, I had no idea what Brain's handwriting looked like. Just to clarify, he and I have been holding hands in public for 3 and a half years now.

(Weird, RIGHT?! Though, according to my mom, this is "typical millenial behavior". Of course, that is a typical Baby-Boomer thing to say, but I don't argue with The Pegster.)

But I digress... Back to the handwriting. Naturally, I analyzed the crap out of it. Thanks to the dedicated professionals at http://handwriting.feedbucket.com, I now have a much better understanding of the man I intend to one day coerce into signing a legally binding relationship agreement with me. Like most of his gender, his entire personality can be summed up in 5 neatly packaged take-away points. Thanks http://handwriting.feedbucket.com!

Below is Brain in a nutshell, with my italicised notes included for personal enjoyment.

1. You plan ahead and are interested in beauty (read: me), design, outward appearance (he is a man, after all), and symmetry (boobies!).

2. You are a person who thinks before acting (Riiight. Just ask him how he broke his back 2 years ago.) and are intelligent (See previous comment) and thorough.

3. You are affectionate, passionate, expressive, and future-oriented. (True, true, true, and true. I got nothin'.)

4. You are a talkative person, maybe even a busybody! (Except when he's near electronics of some sort. In that case, good luck trying to extract a conversation from him.)

5. You enjoy life in your own way and do not depend on the opinions of others. (No doubt, his best AND worst quality.)

Man, even after you take into account the fact that he's a trained killer, that Brain sure does sound like quite the catch!

I'll take two.

Ugh.

I'll be turning the big 2-9 one week before Brain returns from his deployment. This means that the poor guy is stuck coming up with a gift from afar. This task is made infinitely more challenging by the fact that Brain is allergic to the post office as well as the realization that I myself don't even know what I want for my birthday.

I spent some time on the Internet searching for things that pique my interest in an effort to address problem numero dos. In doing so I realized that with grad school (and it's accompanying loans) on the horizon, my interests are leaning towards affordable necessities, as opposed to splurges. So, without further adieu, here are a few gifts I'd be happy to open next month, with a couple of trinkets thrown in for good measure.

J.Crew White Denim Jacket ($98.00)

A summer staple!

Jack Spade Merino Mustache Gloves (SALE $65.00)

I realize that, with a birthday in July, I shouldn't be asking for wool gloves. But just look at these puppies! Heck, I would be excited to open these if I lived along the equator. Besides, you can't beat the price of winter gloves in the summer time.

J.Crew Cashmere Wash ($18.00)

I heart my cashmere. It's about time I act as such.

The Sound Advice Project ($25.00, including S&H)

A love note from My Favorite that I can wear forever and always? Yes, please.

Asics Gel 1140 ($85.00)

A healthy means to deal with the inevitable stress of graduate school.

www.someecards.com (Free!)

A nice, long belly laugh...

Cuisinart Blender/Food Processor ($99.99)

Because, let's face it, I'm like 28 going on 58. That and my Magic Bullet just died... R.I.P. little buddy.

(Random Fun Fact: This is the same gadget Marshall uses to liquify his breakfast in preparation for the New York City Marathon during the second season of How I Met Your Mother. It's like famous or something!!)

Kiehl's Products by potmeetkettle on Polyvore.com

Finally, in the off-chance that I could possibly appear more beautiful than I do at this exact moment*, I'd like to sample the following wares from Kiehls, which the masses have been raving about FOR-E-VER.

Caviar with Stringy Band Ring by Andrea Corson ($320 plus S&H)

I don't eat caviar, but I'd be more than happy to wear some!

Of course, what I most wish for on my birthday is a big bear hug from this guy:

Best. Birthday present. Ever.

But, you know what they say - good things come to those who wait... To which I respond, I hate "they".

*Note: I am currently plopped on the couch in my hospital scrubs, with a green facial mask slathered on my face. In the words of Paris Hilton, "That's hot!"

Suit up!

Brain purchased a beautiful wool overcoat this past winter and we went back and forth on the degree of tailoring it required to best fit his athletic build. We both love the impeccably tailored suits seen on gentlemen throughout Europe and the UK, but Brain contests that he doesn't have the lanky figure needed to pull off such garments. (Take a quick tour through his thought process here.) He's right in that a slim-cut suit would not be the most flattering choice for his "Goldilocks" figure (read: not too big, not too small... just right). However, I wholeheartedly agree with Scott Schuman in that a sharply tailored suit and coat is always in style.

Fast forward a few months... There I was, just sitting on the couch a la Al Bundy, watching Singin' In The Rain when it happened. I discovered my star witness.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, may I present to you Mr. Gene Kelly:


As if that's not enough, this man - err, frock - looks just as good on the way out:


Athletic build? Check. Tailored garment? Check. Looking good enough to eat? Check, check.

The prosecution rests.