Love Where You Live

I'll be the first to tell you that I. Love. Charlottesville. I am surrounded by some of the most beautiful mountains, have quick access to the ocean, get to interact with the smartest people in the country (trust me--they'll tell you), and can take a hop-skip-jump and be immersed in something historic.

This weekend was no exception, and it started on Friday. Sometime earlier this week I go the brilliant idea to ask my boss if I could take a tour/spend the day at Monticello (because I honestly haven't been there since SECOND grade and what if one of my groups wants to visit?! I need to know how to sell the product!!). Being the laid-back boss that she is, she said, "Yes of course!!" Even better--earlier this year I won two Behind-the-Scenes passes to see the upstairs of the house, so naturally I invited my wonderful mama to tag along and snoop inside Mr. Jefferson's abode. 

Friday was the perfect day to visit because a giant rain storm the night before left us this awesome spooky fog:

However, once we got through the tour, we were given beautiful sunshine and perfect fall foliage.

She's sooo pretty! 

Ole TJ knew what he was doin. 

Yesterday, I went to an adorbs baby shower for little Quinn N. She is sure to be the most fashionable baby on the block and I'm pretty pumped to see her rock her infant legwarmers. After the shower, I got a wild hair and decided I HAD TO SEE COPPER ASAP + we had a free pizza coupon that was expiring this weekend (waste not want not!) so I drove up to the VP and we gorged and drank like the good ole days. 

OMG SO EXCITED!!

It's rough around these parts. 

Some things never change...

And what better way to follow up a night of pure, unadulterated laziness? A trip to the Vineyard!

I've missed these two so...

Anything the light touches, Queen Caroline...

Obviously, another wonderful weekend under the belt. The only thing more exciting is that today is Granny's 92nd bday! All those years + a knee AND hip replacement and still lookin' fly. I'll take those genes. 

Cheers to the Weekend,

Hannah

There's a Whole Wide World Out There

...and here are some shots of what I've been doing...

Watched my baby bro graduate from college...

...went to Cape Charles with these fools. Seriously contemplated buying a couch.

Trekked to the motherland with my best friend and a cool crew. Ate at the nicest, most wonderful restaurant I'll probably ever eat. Sat next to Samuel L. Jackson; saw a man walking a tortoise; kissed a stranger on Frenchman; lounged in Audubon Park; stayed on St. Charles; shopped for Panama hats; gave french kisses to french bosses; remembered why I loved this city.

Flew to Philly/NYC with a group of 8th graders to check out all the tourist spots I've never seen...

...and so much more. I'll give this thing a go again, maybe...

The Myth of Fingerprints

(...or more like All Around the World!)

Last week/this week was certainly a logistical whirlwind, and I fall back in "normalcy" tomorrow morning. I just got back from a quick fun weekend in California--we stayed at a beautiful hotel within walking distance to the wharf; I learned how to play poker (sortofnotreally); we hiked Lombard to see the curviest street in the country; and we braved what was one of the longest airport fiascos that I've ever encountered. 

But let's start over. On Thursday, I went to work and was bombarded with calls, emails, and visits about one of my groups. All hell was in the process of breaking loose--late for breakfast, lost in Arlington, bus wreck on the National Mall!! Oh lawd. I had to leave at noon to drive to DC to meet one of my groups, so I put up my out-of-office, hit the road, and met one of my favorite teachers at Arlington National Cemetery. 

It was a gorgeous day, and things couldn't have gone smoother--everyone was smiling, happy, and thankful... why can't everyone be like that?! Ok, so maybe it was a little too beautiful outside (I got sunburned on my nose, noooooo) and maybe I did take my bra off in the middle of the cemetery (to be fair, it was behind a tree. I was hot! What do you want from me?!?). But overall--great visit. 

Anyway, drove home, stopped at the Moo Thru, got myself a Moundz Milkshake, and booked it back to the 'ville to get ready for my 6:00AM flight. 

So delicious...

4:00AM. Wake up call. Scramble around and head out the door to pick up CV at her house and then make our way to the airport. When we arrive, everything seems to be working...except they tell us our 6:30AM flight is cancelled. Awesome! There are no other flights until Sunday, unless we want to cab to Dulles for a 11:50AM flight. Sooo....2 hours later (10hours after I'd just left), we're back at IAD and waiting for our flight. It's not as horrible as it sounds...we got a long, sit-down breakfast, stocked up on mags, and flew from IAD to LAX to SFO and only arrived 4hours late for our event. No biggie.

This does not look promising. 

... commence shitting of pants...

Not the Blue Ridge...

Thankfully, the event went very well--everyone had a great time, I didn't notice any major snags, and the beds were oh-so comfy when we collapsed after the event. The next day, we got to explore a little more and it was sooo pretty!

 

 

 

 

 

Sigh. We had an amazing dinner at The Slanted Door down by the wharf and called it an end to a short and sweet weekend away. The next morning, our 3:45AM wake-up call goes off and we say farewell to the Omni San Francisco to head to the airport. Everything seemed to be going just fine (does this sound familiar?)....until we're 3 hours into the flight and the captain comes on the speaker to announce that there are "dangerous storms in Chicago" and we'll have to land in Peoria Airport (aka bumfuck Illinois) to wait it out. Basically, this is his way of saying kiss yo ass goodbye. 

Like this will really make a difference...

Impending doom.

We wait it out for an hour. On the runway. With no AC. Finally, we're able to fly the 30 minutes to Chicago, and by this point, we've already missed our connecting flight. The good news: it was cancelled, so we're not alone. The bad news: the next flight's not till 7:30PM. This can only mean one thing--Margaritas!!! The airport bar has never looked so good...

Not SFP.

Chicago is fugly.

Meanwhile, as we creep closer and closer to 7:40...the weather worsens....and the flight is delayed to 9:40...then 10:05....then finally we're on the plane--lightening and thunder and flying cows are all around and if there were ever a time for me to praise a holier power, this would probs be it. Despite Mother Nature's wrath, we take off. I am not speaking lightly when I say that it is a miracle we made it home alive/with vomit-free clothing. It.was.awful.

All in all--we got home at 2:00AM Eastern time, a mere 12 hours after we were originally supposed to arrive. I'm not going to say, "I told you so," when it comes to my belief that people are not meant to fly...but srsly. 

Overall--great weekend! It was nice to be a baby jet-setter and I always love visiting beautiful cities. San Francisco definitely had a different flavor from the last time I was there, as a wide-eyed, ecstatic recent high-school grad, but I loved it just the same. 

Do I really have to work tomorrow? Is it July yet? The countdown to NOLA has happened full force, and I absolutely cannot wait!

xoxo,

Hannah