Died and Gone to Mash-Up Heaven

Hold on to Your Britches!

Earthquakes, shmearthquakes--Aunt Irene is coming to town and she's the house guest who always leaves the toilet seat up. The last time I braced for gale-force winds and fled the scene of potential destruction, I was a wee baby freshman at Tulane and I had the pleasure(?) of camping out at one of LSU's classiest establishments...the AGR frat house. Yes, it was an interesting time in my young life--a time that included kegs and kegs of beer, homemade beignets, barefoot soccer games, and--let's be honest--a few hurricane make outs. What? I WAS LOOKING DEATH IN THE EYE! It had to be done.

Luckily, Hurricane Ivan took a turn for the better and left New Orleans unscathed, and I was forced to return to my little world of running, rules, and rich kids. Lame to the max.

But this time's different. This time we've got Irene, and although I'm nowhere near the coast, I'm not taking any chances. I'm headed south in a blazing fury to meet up with some of the most chill, fun-loving, let-the-good-times-roll former Blacksburgians on the map.

Reunion 2011 is gonna cause some serious waves on its own, and hopefully the only hurricane we encounter comes in a glass with an umbrella. I'm sure we'll celebrate our glorious union with some variation of this:

And probably four or five orders of these:

Obviously, we'll need to soothe our worries with the beer that "has the touch":

And hopefully the weekend won't result in this:

Yes, this is a PBR coffin. You can cast your own judgement on this one.

And although our plans for floating lazily down the river may be dashed, we can always cross our fingers for rapids, right?? No matter what trouble we find, it's a guaranteed good time. We've got Rockstarr, Dlock1, Aaaamazing, Kirtley, Feets, and tons more.

Sweet baby Jesus better brace himself...B&B is back in town!

xxx, Hannah

The Walls Start Shaking, the Earth Was Quaking...

Nothing like a tiny natural disaster to put little ole Louisa on the map for good. Yes, it's true: The Lou took a lead role in Tuesday's festivities and shook, rattled, and rolled itself onto the national news. I had just gotten back to my office on the 11th floor when the building started swaying and the usual maniacal chaos that is my coworkers began running, true stampede-style, to the stairwell. People were crying, shoes were flying, and I was worried we might lose a few around floor 9 when bodies began to feel the toll of exercise for the first time in decades.

But, we made it out alive and even got to leave work early. Score! especially considering it was absolute perfection outside.

Poor Louisa, on the other hand, didn't fare as well. The high school is effed; chimneys have crumbled, and the Cuckoo House had some damage. Luckily, my parents' ancient farm house stood strong and they only lost a few pieces of glassware/trinkets. They've had several aftershocks since, but it looks like the Lou was pretty lucky. Even North Anna managed to lock it up and not spew its nuclear nasties all over town. Good job, team.

Now, with all this commotion there have obviously been some brilliant interviews featuring Louisa's finest, and let me just say--they have been making my life. I never realized how much of an accent Central Virginia has but dang durn tootin yall, it's bad. Perhaps my favorite comment came from a woman who described her house as, "doin' the hula!" Yes. We may be rural. We may be toothless. But you better gosh durn believe that we know an earthquake when we feel it!

The Epicenter of Doom.

Cuckoo. She's a brick house, but she ain't got nothin' on 5.8.

Thank God Eric Cantor, with his finely combed hair and perfectly white teeth, was there to offer comfort in a time of need. Barf.

NOT THE FOOD LION NOOOOOOO!

LCHS

School's out for-evah.

(PS. there's my old locker circa 2004, holla!).

Hate to see that.

Umm, wtf. Even the mannequin heads in LCHS's "beauty department" didn't stand a chance.

But, if I had to pick one headline that sums up the sheer terror of the day, it would have to be:

Thank god the housewives are ok. I was srsly stressed. Anyway, it's been a wild ride around these parts, but hopefully things will calm down soon. In the meantime, brace yourselves for Irene, because she looks pissed.

xxxx, Hannah

Harper 2009-2011

I'm not sure if there's something in the water or if it's just a bum year to be a Jack Russell at Windy Knowl Farm. Either way, I hope bad luck comes in threes and the latest events will put a cap on a sad 2011. Little Harper Lee, the JRT who could run the length of your body and curl up in a perfect ball on your lap, has raced off to join her sister under the Wedding Tree. Maybe they were never meant to be separated, anyway, but it's still a low week in the Lou... 

I Survived the Charleston Arsonist

God, I love the south. I love the weather, I love the trees, I love the people, I love the ocean. Back from a fantastic (but fast!) weekend in lovely South Carolina with Julianne, Eileen, and Liz. Julianne's new place is exactly how I imagined it (better, actually)--filled with light, color, art, books, coffee, trinkets, and jewels. We wandered around town and dipped into tiny bakeries, sipped sweet tea at outdoor cafes, and splurged on $1.50 PBRs at the super-cool, low-key Fuel bar. It was great to be back together in a new city and I can't wait to visit again.

We walked along the battery, visited the kick-ass Chucktown Farmer's Market (perfecting our stalking techniques, ugghhhh), shopped along King Street, went to a "sketchy" bar down an alley, listened to the upstairs Bros rock out to Baby Got Back, watched new students flood the streets, and strolled our way through loads of Spanish moss.

Cool chairs, right Mom? :)

We hit up the College of Charleston, and I tried to take at least one photo of Eileen where she didn't look like she wanted to kill me. No luck.

Grabbed some sweet treats at Sugar.

Riley got some serious Liz lovin'.

And finally, the ever-faithful companion/watchdog, Owsley.

Sad to be back in NOVA, but so happy to have the long weekend to play. Blacksburg by Friday night and I couldn't be happier...

xxx, Hannah



That's Rhett Butler. He's from Charleston. He Has the Most Terrible Reputation...

In less than three hours, I'll be out of the office and hightailing my way down south to the wonderful, glorious, Spanish Moss-dripped heaven that is Charleston, SC! Can't wait to check out the city from a new perspective. The last time I was in town I was a mere 18 year-old crazy on a wild bachlorette weekend that culminated in topless sunroof screaming, Citadel-boy snagging, free drink shooting, and long, long naps along the Battery. We stayed at some awesome B&Bs and gorged on shrimp and grits...so obviously, the city left me with some fantastic memories to chew on.



This time around I'll be seeing with two of my favorite ladies--the fabulous Julianne and my daring copilot Eileen--so I'm sure it'll be even better. We're older, wiser?, and can afford to go out to dinner now*! On our own! Woot!

"Walking the streets of Charleston in the late afternoons of August was like walking through gauze or inhaling damaged silk."  Awesome.

I've stocked up on Pat Conroy novels and have prepared myself for waves of seersucker and pastels. Bring it, Chucktown!

xxxx, Hannah



*Not that we'll actually pay for food, b/c obviously we've stocked up on homemade pizza dough, cajun chicken alfredo, and rosemary olive garlic bread. Duh.

Do It for Melfa!

Driving four hours across the bay for a crabbie feast with some crazies is always 100% worth it. "Working from home" is the best invention ever, especially when home includes intense sunshine and a pool and "working" includes Samuel Adams Blackberry Witbier and Duoz CheezeIts. Some people have all the luck.



Hayley enjoyed her vacation, even if it was spent having her picture taken roughly 50,000 times.



Sooo spoiled soooo sleepy...

Jebby came back for a visit from vet school orientation. So fancy.

Thanks for letting me sleep in yo bed again.

We ate pie for breakfast (and lunch. And after-lunch snack).

Couple of stone-cold, crab-catchin' killas.

Life is so hard...

Then...we feasted!

I'm always amazed at how drawn-out these weekends actually feel, especially given the long drive. Maybe it's the influx of alcohol to the system or the deadly amounts of Old Bay sprinkled on our souls. Either way, a long weekend at the cape is always better than, well, anything. CC11 FTW and I was only there 36ish hours!

On the way home, I stumbled across this gem while filling up my car (which, consequently tripped 240,000 miles somewhere around Onacock. That's my girl.)

May God contenue to bless America, I guess. Happy Monday!

I'm On A Mission

...to find the best Southern cornbread recipe known to woman. All this Twain talk about cracklin' bread and a "scenery of ham and eggs" and homemade churned butter and "the look of an apple that is roasting and sizzling on a hearth on a winter's evening....and the comfort that comes of eating it hot, along with some sugar and a drench of cream" is making me want to unearth my aprons and get.to.mixing.

I've always had a mild obsession with cornbread, even if it's the super-easy Jiffy kind that's been spruced up with corn kernels and chopped jalapenos. It takes great restraint to keep from eating the entire batch, especially when it's straight out of the oven and globbed with a huge, gooey slab of butter (mmmm...cornbread....).  

Does anyone know of a particularly good recipe? I don't care how much cornmeal, flour, buttermilk, lard, chicken fat, sugar, salt, corn syrup, frogs legs, or time that it takes--this is serious. As my mother would say, "I betcha a cookie" I won't have to look much further/farther/fuckit than the living, breathing cornbread-personified machine that is Paula Dean. Mrs. Dean appears to have had one or two cornbread muffins over her culinary lifetime and I want in on her secrets.

As with all of my favorite foods, I will require offensive amounts of garlic and onions, as well as any and all peppers I can get my hands on (preferably free). Other suggestions are gladly welcome. In the meantime, I will remain diligent and on the hunt; I suggest you do the same.

Amen, sistah.

xxx,

Hannah

Tricks Are for Kids.

So my cousin Jenny just had a baby last week (a boy named Sawyer...love it) and I think the whole infant arrival sent me on a whirlwind hunt for pastel pinks and blues. Not that I think I would ever decorate a kid's room in these colors, but I do love a sweet pastel palette, especially when it's chock full of lush flowers and crisp white backdrops.

Super into the idea of separating little makeup items with this "industrial"-looking tin thing.

I am willing to bet that no children live in this house with this staircase...way too white and perfectly unscuffed for any of that nonsense. Still...lookin' good....

Turquoise. Pink. White. Yes. Yes YES.

Would only look better with a little teal Pyrex peekin out.

Chunky coffee table legs ftw.

Light fixture + marble-ish counter tops + glass-faced cabinets + artichokes at the ready

Yoga tonight. Whining my way out of work on Friday. Cape Charles for the weekend (!?!). Leftover Rio Grande for dinner!!!! And it's not blazingly hot as balls out today. Score!

xxx,

Hann