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

Don't Live Above Your Raisin'

ATTENTION EVERYONE: tonight marks the first night of Fall 2012 that my HWBB (hot water bottle baby) made an appearance and I am both extremely excited and a little saddened about this. I'm mostly excited because it is oh-so toasty and I'd forgotten how lovely it is to carry this thing around under my shirt while I'm cooking dinner, surfing Pinterest, or climbing into bed. I know Car-Sex is probably really missing this event, so I figured I'd give her a little shout-out to feel like she's a part of this. 

ALSO--perhaps the strangest coincidence of ole HWBB showing its rubbery face is that I got a call tonight from the one and only amazing and wonderful Alex, the woman responsible for me owning a HWBB in the first place!! Obviously, the HWBB gods are shining down on  us. I love that girl so SO much, and I already feel revived after playing some serious catch-up. I cannot WAIT to make the trek up to Beantown to visit her (and my wonderful wife, obvi). I will pack my parka and make a serious trip of it. 

Meanwhile, here in VA I had a productively lazy weekend, filled with sheepdog trials; fall fiber festivities; drunken, 3AM cookout stops; bike rides downtown; and family reunions in the holler. Sometimes I think I could write a book about the eclectic mix of people I have in my life....melting pot may not begin to describe it. 

Like any lazy weekend when I have nothing to do but I'm itching to be outside, I head to my local cemetery and lounge around, creepily, looking at all the different headstones and wondering about the people underneath them. My mom and I drove out to Crozet to check on the dead relatives...they're still there, so that's good. 

**Fun Fact: The ones on the end aren't actually buried in this spot. One of my crazy relatives from back in the day decided it would be swell to have these headstones resting on this mountain rather than the one where the bodies are actually planted. The only logical move? Uproot the stones and move 'em up to better real estate. Location, location...?

On Saturday, I headed into Orange with Molly and Lindsay to visit the Fall Fiber Festival!! Isn't that exciting? Who wouldn't want bushels and bushels of wool and kettle corn thrust upon them?  The best part about all this was the sheepdog trials that were running all day. If I can birth one child that's half as smart as these border collies, I will be immensely satisfied. They are amazing!! They made me run home and Google "border collies for sale charlottesville virginia" and my dreams came to a crashing halt when I realized these pups sell for a cool $5,000-$6,000. Each. Yes, that's 3 zeros. Yikes. Anyway, after we'd had our fill of fall fun, we headed to Barboursville Vineyards for $5 wine tasting! Yum! This place is great because they give you like, 1million tastings and it's beautiful. 

Happy cows drink Virginia wine. 

Afterwards, I went to Whole Foods and bought approximately 8 blocks of "fancy" cheese and crackers to eat for dinner. Have you ever had cheese drizzled with honey on a cracker? Sweet lord, get on that. It will turn you into a raging maniac over your cutting board. Or maybe that's just me. 

As beautiful as Saturday was, today was mofo disgusting. Rain. Cold. Wind(ish). Perfect day for a "family reunion," right? Umm...only in the holler. 

So my family works like this: one side of my mom's family is about as old a Virginia clan as you can get. They have "Charlottesville" accents, can trace their lineage back to fancy-pants kings, think the sun shines out of their Albemarle asses, have family portraits/paintings from the 1700somethings hanging in their houses, and name everyone the same three names for generations (I'm looking at you, Page**, Hugh, and Anne....). 

The other side of my mom's family has lived on the same plot for as long as human beings have eaten squirrels. In fact, they still eat squirrels! And opossum stew! And livers! And chitlins, probably! Their family tree doesn't exactly branch, and most need subtitles a-la Swamp People to decipher what they're actually saying. Luckily, I speak fluent 'country-folk,' and can hold a conversation..but it can be tricky.

Anyway, my great aunt Ethel's house is the hub of any/all family festivities, so around 2:00pm today the family came creeping out of the woodworks (literally) to feast on deviled eggs, potato salad, hot dogs, pistachio pie, spinach dip, chicken fingers, baked beans, and any other picnic-genre food you can imagine. It is delicious. 

While catching up with these cousins/uncles/aunts/people who are related but I'm not sure how, this is what I learn: 

1. If you ever need to trap a raccoon, use sardines as bait. 
2. If you ever need to trap a groundhog, use a cantaloupe.
3. You can buy a fleece camo hoodie jacket for $12 and it will last you four years, at least!
4. The best/new type of pepper to plant are Revolution peppers.
5. The apple moonshine is more potent than the peach, but neither will make you as tight as the blackberry.

Overall, it was a good day, filled with simple mountain folk with a knack for driving jacked-up Jeeps and knowing how to unclog kitchen sinks with a tin can. There are just some things they don't teach ya in school. 

I am left with many leftovers and I am thrilled. Off to bed to start a new week...hopefully one that includes tons and tons of bike riding, because I am obsessed and it's basically all I want to do. I guess there could be worse addictions, so I'll take it.

xoxox,

Hannah

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

Scenes from the Week

I'm with the band....

Hopped on the tour bus with the Drive by Truckers and my old friend Cole. He does as amazing job as their light manager and sneaked us into a fantastic show at the Jefferson. Thanks Cole!

Oh hai junior-year prom date (and Meghan)!

Enjoyed the beautiful mall for the first Fridays After Five--Love Cannon was playing and the place was packed!

Spent the rainy days painting painting painting, and watching Abita enjoy her new favorite hiding spot.

Documented backyard haircuts (Maudie was v. excited)

Fam-dam-ily in action. 

Bought new plants at the farmer's market--I'm looking at you, purple tomatoes! Nom. 

Just got back from dinner at Bellas with Meghan--topped it off with a Dreamsicle martini at Bang. Will most likely go kicking and screaming into work tomorrow. What's a girl gotta do to be a stay-at-home-someone?! Sheesh...


xoxo, Hannah