Wed-nes-day

Today is just another Wednesday. Not too much on the agenda, unless you count hitting the gym to sculpt my increasingly-impressive guns, laying out in the sun, reading The Corrections (love this by the way), and generally lazing about on my day off. Also on the program for today is bidding bon voyage to my very special friend, Maddie. She takes to the open road tomorrow heading for San Diego. Maddie secured a two-year internship at a hospital there and I could not be more excited for her to take on this adventure. I will of course miss her terribly, but more than that I am eager to see what amazing opportunities will come from her new west coast life.

So, where does this song fit in? Erm, well it doesn’t. I just heard it yesterday and thought, That is a good song. More people should hear this song. Now, here it is for your audible pleasure. Thanks again, Jack!

For the Love of Reading

This morning I woke up checking for puffy, swollen eyes. Nay, not a side effect of allergy season, but rather a cruel result of crying last night. Hmm, why would I be crying? It couldn’t possibly be for the ridiculously absurd and embarrassing reason of over-involvement in literature. Sadly, it was.

Photo Courtesy of en.wikipedia.org

As I cruised through a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios I regaled my mom with last night’s events. See, I finished Cold Mountain last night much to my surprise and sadness. It was a surprise because the end came so quickly; all the sudden I had read 350 pages and it was time to come to a close. The sadness was a result of its conclusion, not only the actual act of finishing it, but additionally, the way it ended. I won’t spoil it for you, but let’s just say the ending is not my personal idea of “good,” and furthermore, had I channeled Charles Frazier and written it myself, I most certainly would not have concluded it in this fashion.

As I filled mom in on the details she said, “You have suffered a lot of angst through reading.” I laughed and then realized that she was totally right. Books invoke strong emotions in me including a significant amount of empathy, hence the sad, cat-lady type crying in bed at midnight.

Let me clarify that I truly enjoyed Cold Mountain. In fact, it’s one of the best pieces I’ve read in quite a while. Frazier’s incredible imagery is some of the finest I’ve come across and I felt myself a part of the rugged, mountainous landscape, as difficult and frightening as it was. I can’t fully decide if Inman and Ada’s love story or the horrifying devastation of the Civil War takes center-stage in the novel. Both kept me fully engaged and constantly seeking more.

While not the typical summer read (i.e.: it doesn’t have an oily man with his shirt off on the cover and doesn’t revolve around life-destroying amount of gossip) I would highly recommend this book.

First Weekend of Summer

I believe R Kelly said it best when he crooned, “Baby it’s the freakin’ weekend and I’m about to have me some fun.” Well it’s certainly not the start of my weekend but it sure has been fun. It’s been jam-packed with friend-filled activities and super heiss weather. The recap:

The weekend commenced with milling around downtown for First Friday in the Crossroads district. I’m embarrassed to say that this was my very first FF. In previous years I had had plans to go, but for some reason they always fell through. So I was really excited to finally make it happen.

Saturday was an early morning for eight of us. To celebrate Annie’s 25th birthday Kathryn set-up a tour and tasting at a local-ish Missouri vineyard. After driving for a couple hours we arrived at Les Bourgeois vineyard to check out their operations and see, swirl, smell, sip, and swallow about 15 different wines. Cheers!

That is a lot of wine.

Couldn't leave empty handed!

 

Annie (birthday girl) Courtney, Courtney, Bailey, Kathryn. Stephanie, Meself, Nicki

 

We had time for a quick nap and shower before it was off to continue the birthday festivities at The Cashew downtown. The bar has great atmosphere and location, but is short on common sense. Rule of thumb: when it is 90 degrees still in the evening, with barely a whisper of a breeze, close the windows and turn on the AC. Everyone in the bar had a strange glisten and sheen for the extreme heat and perspiration. So besides being uncomfortable and sweaty, the night was a great success.

Babes.

 

And now it’s Sunday. The best way to continue this weekend is pool-side lounging with a couple of friends. Life is grood.

Thailand, Here I Come

Photo Courtesy of travelhouseuk.co.uk

I have been refraining from posting about this for some time as to not build my anticipation to unholy levels. I felt as though if I kept it tucked away it wouldn’t be that big of a deal and there wouldn’t be too terribly much to look forward to.

Who was I kidding?! I’m going to Thailand!! How can I not be pysched out of my mind about it? When people ask if I have big summer plans or what my next traveling move is I usually start with my big move to Charleston, which is obviously very exciting. “Moving for school, huh? Yeah, that’s cool. Well, you’ll love Charleston,” is usually the response I get. Then I slyly add in that before that I’m going to make a quick (actually not really quick) trip to Thailand. “WHAT?! That is amazing! When? For how long? Why?”

Photo courtesy of simply-thailand.com

In short: When: July 1st; How long: 4 weeks; Why: Because I have an unbeatable opportunity to meet up with my very favorite traveling companion. For the last seven weeks Adam has been traipsing around Asia exploring, and as you know if you read my previous blog, exploring is one of my best-loved activities. We’ve relaxed in Portugal, tackled the Matterhorn in Zermatt, strolled about Paris, nearly froze to death in Vienna, and generally conquered living in Zurich. Now it is time to take on another continent, expand our peripatetic ways into Asia.

So for four weeks, basically the entire month of July, I will be a part of his Big Asia Trip. It’s been nearly impossible to describe how excited I am for this trip. Even while getting my immunizations (Typhoid Fever. Hepatitis A, and Tetanus) I was excited because that meant I was actually going. When I talk about it I usually sputter out trite expressions like, “Oh yeah, no I’m really excited. I’m just really looking forward to it. It’s going to be amazing,” and then I dissolve into a goofy grin while I fast-forward my mind to sitting on a hammock tied between two palm trees looking out onto the bluest waters in all the land.

Unfortunately, I can’t accurately detail how much I am anticipating this trip. But for the next four weeks if you see me with my eyes glazed over and maybe a little drool coming out of the corner of my mouth you will understand that I am envisioning myself having the absolute very best time on the opposite side of the world with Adam.