Media-crity

Hmm. It’s mostly been pictures and bitching about Manny, huh?

Well let’s see. I turned 26 and I got to go into the Pacific Ocean for the first time. That’s about the most exciting thing.

For my birthday weekend I flew out to Portland (Oregon) to hang out with some cool girls. It was one of the best weekends of my life. Much of it too hard to articulate but suffice it to say it was also one of the best birthdays of my life.

Here are two of my favorite pictures from my birthday, both taken in Cannon Beach by Adria.

OMG THE OCEAN!! YAAAAAAY!!!!!

OMG THE OCEAN IS COLD!!!!!!!!!

Other than that, working hard, playing hard (My So-Called 90’s Night at the Common Ground in Allston, The Kinsale, Original Sin cider …), and not wanting the summer to end.

We took this one shortly before we left. I was so disoriented when I woke up this morning that I was looking for the balcony. But there was no ocean, and I had to put on grown up work clothes instead of a bathing suit and sundress. Sigh.

Today was spent between the pool and the beach before the big rainstorm rolled in. We also rented boogie boards, hooray! I managed to ride a few waves in, but Nate mostly floated around, probably for the best with his back.

We started the day fortifying ourselves as only weary New Englanders can.

Then we went and waited out the rain and stuff and went boogie boarding for an hour. This is me afterward. Too bad you can’t see my skinned knees cause they were pretty awesome.

Nate, post-boogie boarding

Self-portrait, post-boarding!

Me shaking the sand out of everything

Now onto the pool portion of our program.

It started pouring shortly after this, but gosh darn it doesn’t he look happy?

Post-rain. Check out the rainbow!

Dinner at Maria Bonita’s. Do you SEE the size of that margarita? It was half tequila. The food was equally large but delicious. Even if thinking of it right now makes me a little queasy because I am still SO FULL.

Yesterday was the wedding. I don’t have any pics of that but Nate does, obviously. Instead, here are some pool pictures!

I am going to cry looking at these once I get home.

Nate contemplates a mozzarella stick, then eats it.

The tiki bar over my shoulder? Where the magic happens.

Nate enjoys a frosty margarita from the magic tiki hut

Mmmmmm strawberry daiquiri! Want to know how magic the tiki hut was? The bartender today made “extra” with both of our drinks so we each got one free!

Hanging out on our balcony, where we have spent pretty much every evening.

Mmmmm … tasty homemade ice cream.

Yesterday we spent some time on the beach, then in the pool, then we went to the rehearsal dinner. After that, we mini-golfed.

Joe Nate prepares to charge into the volcano to rescue Meg Ryan armed with only a golf club.

FORE! (If I knew more about golf, these would all have individual hilarious captions)

A proof from my Ladies of Mini-Golf calendar shoot

Nate trying to escape from the Tree God’s trap

It’s very hard to putt accurately with a dinosaur breathing down your neck. That must be why I got 17 over par on this hole.

It’s cool, though, cause I got a new friend out of it!

We’re here! It was a long, long day that is ending nicely with some sweet MSNBC crime docs.

Highlights:

1. Getting a ride to Courthouse to grab the Silver Line to the airport instead of braving the 104 –> Orange Line –> Red Line –> Silver Line or –> Blue Line –> Shuttle with luggage, a gimpy husband, and rush hour.

2. My new computer! We took this at Logan waiting for our flight with PhotoBooth and the built-in camera:

3. Room overlooking the beach with mini golf across the street from the hotel.

4. Moonlit stroll on the beach after we checked in.

5. ARBYS!

6. Cows! Everywhere!

7. Free wifi!

All of this is almost enough to dull the depression of flying into Orlando but NOT going to Disney.

Now, we need some sleep that isn’t sitting up in an airplane seat.

This is right where Hurricane Dean is heading. I’m hoping and praying (to the Mayan gods, of course) they’re okay. I know the ruins of Tulum have been standing for centuries but these newly powerful storms worry me.

The whole area down there we still rebuilding from Rita when we were there in mid-September 2006. When we decided to take a honeymoon last minute some people said we were crazy for going to that area when we did. Instead, we lucked out with a beautiful week for cheap due to the season. Some of the places we saw and enjoyed are now in the path of destruction. I hope this little corner of paradise emerges unscathed.

All of the recent passport hoopla has reminded me of my own crazy passport story from ought-five.

In, I think, January of 05 in anticipation of an upcoming trip to Ireland, Nate and I applied for a passports. His arrived within a month of applying. Mine did not. Then I got an email saying there was an issue with my passport application and it gave me a number to call. I called and the man said “Oh, yes, you were born in Hudson County. Do you know the story of Hudson County?” I said no, and he proceeded to tell me that about a year ago, due to widespread corruption, every single birth certificate issued in Hudson County within the past 40+ years has been rendered invalid.

Here is an MSNBC story from 2004 that mentions the problem and that I wish I had seen at the time.

It all ended happily, though. I was able to relatively quickly obtain a new birth certificate and brought it down to the passport office in Norwalk to get expidited service. The passport, along with both copies of my birth certificate, arrived in time for us to go on our vacation unhindered by bureaucracy.

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.

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.

Nate is singing in an endless parade of Easter services so I am holed up for 4 days at a Days Inn. As I keep saying, it has free high-speed wireless and a Panera next door so how can I go wrong? Especially because tomorrow is Baked Potato Soup day! I’m already drooling over the idea of it.

I also have an icky cold. I spent most of today whining and wishing I could just sleep for 3 days. When housekeeping showed up and I tried to make them go away they were very persistant and asked me if everything was okay when I finally opened the door. Maybe they think I’m being held hostage.

Nate is actually free for the rest of the night so we have big plans to get all the things I forgot and then see a movie. Well, if we can tear ourselves away from what the internets tell me is For Love or Money.

We have returned from our whirlwind trip to Houston. So much to say but all I can manage is this: I have brought back a plague. Nate was sick going out there and for the bulk of the trip, then he got better and I got worse last night. Flying was a nightmare, especially with rerouted flights, changing terminals, getting selected for the VIT treatment (Very Important Terrorist) at security, and getting stuck in a last-row seat that doesn’t recline when all you want to do is sleep.

However, thanks to the good people who make Aleve Cold & Sinus, I at least resemble something halfway human.

Now, to unpack a bit, get settled, and enjoy the first night’s sleep in a real bed since Tuesday. Mmm … Tempurpedic and down comforter …