Yesterday we were intending to head to NYC to have lunch with my mom, go to the Guggenheim on BoA's dime, and then Nate had an audition. No, that's not deja vu you're experiencing. We did intend to do this very thing on Wednesday. Didn't happen then and, well, didn't happen yesterday.

Around Danbury the car suddenly and severely overheated. This isn't new with this car, but it hasn't happened in awhile. Yesterday was 95 degrees so it was bound to happen. We limped off 84 and made our way to Candlewood Lake, seeking shade for humans and automobiles alike.

It turned out to be a much better day than it could have. We were forced to just sit there and not do much but talk. We laid out our plan for our situation as far as what to do with the immediate problems (bills) and where we want the future to go (Boston). I feel a lot better, although I wasn't too worried in the first place. Thank you, Zoloft.

Then, we played Hangman. How fun is that?

We never made it to NYC. Rush hour + holiday traffic were not an appealing proposition. We instead bypassed 84 entirely and took 7/202. We got home and watched the rest of our Scrubs DVDs and I fell asleep at 11 and slept for 14 hours. Ahhhhh. Most of that was spent on the couch because we put the living room a/c in the window.

Today I have been gearing up for the Real World Las Vegas reunion miniseries by watching the Real World Las Vegas marathon. Ah, trashy. I've yelled at the TV many many times.

I've also been updating my Good Reads profile with things I've read. Obviously I will never get all of the books I've ever read up there, but I'm browsing through others' "bookshelves" and adding ones I've read as I find them.

Labels: books, daily report, thinking, travel, tv, weekend

Last night was the big Lost season finale. It was incredible. I'm fully re-invested in this show. I didn't give up on it like so many did, and still made sure I was hope to watch it on Wednesdays, but it had been "meh" for awhile. Until last night.

The shocking revelation that the flashbacks were flashFORWARDS reminded me of the moment we realized that Desmond was living in the hatch present-day.

I have no idea who died, though this awesome site managed to clean up the newspaper clipping a bit, giving a few more clues. My immediate thought was that Sawyer was dead. Then I thought that Kate was with Sawyer. Then I just got too depressed by the whole bearded-suicidal-Jack and gave up.

Now to get through til February ...

OH YEAH. One thing I loved was Hurley coming out of the jungle in the van. The look on his face when Sawyer told him he'd be in the way was heartbreaking so I'm glad he showed them all. I was cheering through that whole scene.

Labels: tv

I went to Stop and Shop and Shaws yesterday to get everything we needed to get the house back up and running (food, etc). I brought two reusable bags into SnS, but once again I underestimated the amount of stuff you can cram in those things! I then went to Shaws to get the last couple of things and just asked for no bag. Got a weird look, but whatever.

Then last night I caught the rerun of Ellen where she gets a "green audit" on her house and has various other environmental experts on. Turns out that if everyone changed ONE incandecent bulb to a CFL, the carbon savings would be equal to taking 800,000 cars off the road. Wow.

Plastic bags saved: 5

Labels: environment, plastic bags saved

On Friday we headed down to Philly. We got there in time to drive into the city at dusk, then head to our hotel in nearby Mt. Laurel, NJ. We pretty much collapsed that night.

Bright and early Saturday morning we checked out of our hotel and made it to Philly by 9:00 am. We had breakfast at Reading Terminal Market then walked around the city. We took advantage of the Bank of America cardholder museum promotion to get into the art museum, where we saw a ton of cool stuff, particularly in the Period Rooms and Archetectural Settings portions, like the Medieval Cloister and the Japanese teahouse.

After that, we went to the delightfully creepy Eastern State Penitentiary, where people like Al Capone were held. We spent a LONG time there because there was so much to see. If you're in Philly and you haven't seen this, you must go. Nate took a ton of pictures that I'll share the link to when he gets them up.

We hit Reading again for a late lunch since we'd parked near there. I had mac & cheese at Delilah's, which Oprah called the best mac & cheese in the country or something. It was really good and rich, but oddly sour. Mine is better. ;)

After that, we stopped in the Baltimore area to see a friend for dinner. Then we headed to York, PA for the point of the entire trip. Nate was doing a photoshoot for a client of his at his previous job. I mostly stayed in the hotel, barely able to move after walking for 5 hours straight in Philly. :)

Yesterday we left the hotel and went down to DC for the day. We didn't do any tours or museums, but we walked the entire mall and looked at many of the monuments, like the Washington (as you can see in the photoblog from yesterday) and the WWII, as well as the Capitol and the White House. We had lunch at the Billy Goat Tavern, which gained notoriety thanks to SNL character Father Guido Sarducci.

We walked around a bit more, Nate taking tons of pictures as usual, then limped back to the car (another 5 or so hours of walking!) and headed Philly-ward, where we stopped for cheesesteaks at Geno's for dinner.

It took us forever to get home because we hit a lot of overnight construction on 95 but we finally rolled into Hartford around 3:30 am. Best weekend in a long, long time.

Today Nate is in Boston meeting the director for a show he's in. Tomorrow we're heading back down to NYC to see more museums thanks to BoA and then he has an audition at 6:30. Whew.

Now I am just relaxing and hoping this sunburn fades nicely. Aloe, here I come.

Labels: travel, weather, weekend

That quote is from one of my all-time favorite movies Saved!, which we just finished watching. It struck me, as the movie was ending, how well it sums up how I've been feeling lately.

Yesterday, we drove up to UCONN to see the cows.

Tonight we took a walk in the rain.

Friday we're going to Pennsylvania so Nate can do what he loves: taking pictures.

We may both be unemployed and scared sometimes, but I can't remember the last time I was this genuinely happy.

Labels: daily report, movies, thinking

Gilmore Girls premiered my freshman year of college. I was living on the campus of the Hartford College for Women and we had no cable and no campus internet. Living in the hills and valleys of the area didn't afford us much in the way of reception with rabbit ears so I didn't actually watch it that season. The WB was one station that didn't come in at all.

I went home that summer and caught it in summer reruns and was hooked.

Through my college career, I felt like I was growing as Rory was. Stars Hollow was a safe retreat from the rigors and heartbreak so prevalent in a college atmosphere.

Tonight, it all ended. Two weeks ago contract negotiations ground to a halt and it was announced that the planned season finale would be the series finale.

I'm sad, I'll miss the characters and zany situations, but I thought they wrapped it up well.

Labels: tv

Cows!

Last week sometime I went to Stop and Shop and brought my tote bag. Did about 3 bags worth of shopping. I went back to get something I'd forgotten and it was so little I didn't take a bag at all.

Today I went to Borders and told them that I didn't need a bag. Then I went to Waldbaums and got another Elizabeth Haub Foundation bag. This time I found the blue one with the butterfly on it!

Plastic bags saved over 4 shopping trips: 7

Labels: environment, plastic bags saved

The Daily Puppy

Labels: animals

As a child, when asked the ubiquitous "What do you want to be when you grow up?" I would invariably answer "Float."

The confused adult would respond "You want to be an astronaut?"

"No, I just want to float."

Right now, I just want to float.

On Friday I went to Trader Joe's and while there, I bought one of their reusable shopping bags. I don't know if that counts, though, because I don't think TJ's even has plastic bags. Theirs is cool, though, red with tropical flowers. Smaller than the rest, but a good one to keep in the car for spur of the moment trips.

Today I went to Waldbaums and bought my first Elizabeth Haub foundation bag. Unfortunately, I could only find the orange one, which I don't really like. Yes, I am shallow with my conservation efforts. I intend to find a purple one and one of the white and blue ones. I like these because the proceeds go to fund an international conservation foundation, started by the mother of A&P CEO Christian Haub in honor of her mother-in-law, the foundation's namesake.

There was also a story in the front page of the Courant today about how CT residents are overwhelmingly devoted to conservation. I knew I liked this state for a reason! Besides the plastic bag thing, in this CT household, we have also partially switched to CFLs instead of incandescents. As for the third item, I don't think we've bought a computer or TV in a long time so I can't say whether or not we've paid a surcharge, but I am all for it. What's $5 when you're spending as much as you do on consumer electronics?

Plastic bags saved: 2

Labels: environment, food, local, plastic bags saved

I forgot how much I love the movie Saved! It's just ending on Oxygen, but it's starting again at 9 for those of you who don't watch Grey's.

It's a dark comedy but oddly touching and heartwarming. I'm sitting here crying because I'm a wimp.

I can see how it might offend hardcore religious fundies but I don't think I associate with anyone like that.

The story is beautiful at its heart, though. All about how we're all different and we all deserve love and the best life we can make for ourselves, no matter how unorthodox.

Labels: movies

As I posted last week, I want to stop using plastic bags.Today I had my first chance to go shopping with the nice roomy Whole Foods totebag my mom gave me on Sunday.

I will never go back to plastic bags.

I love grocery shopping, I just hate getting it all into the house. Carrying 5 or 6 heavy bags up the stairs, losing my balance, the handles cutting off my circulation. Having to put them all down to fumble with my keys, then gather them all back up. Then what to do with all the bags?

Not tonight! I had about 3 bags worth of groceries, plus a gallon of water (that'll be next to go). My new bag has a shoulder strap so I just slung that over my shoulder, with my purse over that, water jug in my hand, leaving the other hand free to grab my keys and open the door. Wonderful!

Plastic bags saved: 3

Labels: environment, food, plastic bags saved

I was flipping over to our local CBS affiliate for the evening news since Nate's not home and I'm not ready to go to bed yet. They were talking about a 20-year-old murder case and the murderer, who has been on the run since the day after he was convicted. They said his name was Adam Zachs. I didn't pay much attention until I realized the reporter was standing in West Hartford Center. They also made a few references to the fugitive's wealthy family, who police believe may be supporting him secretly.

The pieces fell into place. Adam Zachs is the son on THE Zachs family, a very wealthy family of philanthropists and arts patrons in this area. I did a little bit of quick research to confirm and yep, I was right. I also learned that the murder/precipitating event took place at The Prospect Cafe, which is about 3 blocks down from my house. Goes to show that every family has its problems. I've never believed otherwise but I was still somehow surprised.

On a completely unrelated note, the news also tells me that Fiddy is selling his Farmington estate. There goes CT's street cred. At least we still have Paul Newman and Sam Waterston!

Labels: celebrities, local, news