***

Just Bought TIckets for NYC

2012-01-25T20:24:00.002-06:00

I'm so excited to see the old neighborhood

My Third Grade Diet Coke Sponser

2012-01-25T14:13:00.001-06:00

(What is one thing you can do for yourself to make this new year better? "I can stop drinking diet coke")

It's good to know I am not the only one with this addiction.

Watch Out - I'm getting Crafty

2012-01-23T22:17:00.002-06:00

Please try to see through my old man eye bags and hunched shoulders to see my crafty skills! Over break I got a little ambitious and attempted an epic knitting project. And if you don't look too close you could call it a success! I knitted one giant infinity scarf.... at least I think that is what you would call it. Either way, I'm taking orders cause I know you all want one! And no, the lovely eye bags are not a part of the deal.

Lady Bird Wildflower Center

2012-01-21T23:27:00.001-06:00

Last weekend we spent the afternoon in the Lady Bird Wildflower Park since it is free for the month of January. Isn't Lady Bird such a wonderful nickname for a lady who loved nature and the outdoors?

The park is really lovely even when there isn't an wildflowers in bloom. I feel like Texas landscape is so different from anything I have ever known before. Every time we go out it is a new exploration. Like who knew there were so many kinds of cactus!

We'll definitely be going back even when it costs money!

Why We Can't Wait

2012-01-16T16:15:00.001-06:00

I think I may be one of the last people on earth to read "Letter from Birmingham Jail" but I finally did. I spent much of the weekend reading Why We Can't Wait by Martin Luther King. I expected to be inspired and love it and feel all warm and fuzzy. I was inspired but for reasons I didn't expect and as for the warm and fuzzies... I didn't feel them at all.

Instead I felt amazed by the realities of the civil rights movement. There was disagreements and differences of opinion. There was logistical issues - money, scheduling, permits. I get very bogged down by logistics - as if they detract from the "dream." I'm glad there are people that can see the dream while within the logistics. My life would be a different place without them.

Nothing was inevitable. Sometimes it feels that way.

I don't have much to say because, I think, I am still in awe that it happened at all.

2012-01-12T06:00:00.000-06:00

I've been spending a lot of time digging around online archives while doing genealogy work. I especially love the old New York Times archives. There is something weirdly comforting in seeing the newspaper I read every day existing long before I existed.

One of the coolest things I have found is an article from 1948 about an exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History (one of my most favorites in the whole world!). The Exhibit was on "Superstition, Prejudice and Fear." The article says:

But the best part of all is the display of the calendar created by Sophia Vambo in which there are 13 months of the year and the 13th falls on a Friday during every month. Apparently it was being proposed as a legitimate change....

What would the 13th month be called?

it's all about the small steps

2012-01-11T20:31:00.002-06:00

Today I started working out. I did 5 reps.

then I ate some frozen chocolate chips and watched the Bachelor in my workout clothes.

Success!

Another Episode?

2012-01-09T21:46:00.000-06:00

Last week Eric made a Facebook post about wanting to finish all the Battlestar Galactica episodes. (Or BSG as we call it around here) Several people posted this video in response. At first I tried to deny it. "I'm not really addicted" I thought. "I can stop watching whenever I want!""And no, I don't refer to Lee Adama and Starbuck as real people."

But then we stayed up all night Friday ordering in and finishing the series and I realized I can't deny it. We were totally the cliche. What can we do?

(And in case you need more proof - I got no more than 4 hours of sleep any night last week and ate nothing but apples and peanut butter for dinner. And you bet it was a school week!)

But like, its really, really so good. Seriously.

2012-01-07T20:00:00.000-06:00

2012-01-07T17:00:00.000-06:00

2012-01-04T17:00:00.000-06:00

Resolutions

2012-01-03T13:50:00.000-06:00

While cleaning out some old boxes of stuff I found my new year's resolutions circa 2006. I think it is quite telling that I didn't even set a "physical" or "economical" goal... It explains a lot about my current spending/exercise habits (or lack thereof) !

I also find it sadly interesting that the goals I did set are exactly the same as those I thought about setting this year! Well, except the grade point average. Luckily I am no longer in school so I can cross at least 1 thing off my list! Woo hoo for progress!

We're So Stylish

2012-01-01T23:21:00.000-06:00

For my mom's 50th birthday we threw her a surprise party. Once, when I was younger, I had a conversation with her about how we couldn't wait to be old so we could sport pink hair and fabulously bold clothing. So, when I found The Advanced Style blog I knew it had to be the theme for the party!

We made invitations using the fabulous 90-year old fashion icon - Iris Apfel as our poster stylish woman. Using some inspiration from Amanda Jones, we sent parties in a box to some of her friends far away and had them send us pictures of themselves to display at the party.

The night of the party I got an email update with the latest update from MAC cosmetics - guess who their latest celebrity inspiration is! Iris Apfel! I guess we aren't the only ones who think her style is worth imitating!

via

2012-01-01T20:26:00.000-06:00

2012

2012-01-01T17:52:00.000-06:00

On the Eve of Christmas... the 12 Days of Christmas

2011-12-24T10:52:00.002-06:00

with love from our friends - Haun's Mill

.

The Longest Night of the Year - Traditions old, new and borrowed

2011-12-23T01:07:00.000-06:00

This winter solstice we spent at home! We celebrated the longest night of the year with some very old traditions, s newer one and a borrowed one. We spent the evening making shortbread - my great-great grandmother's recipe she brought from Scotland.

Eric spent the time making homemade egg nog from a recipe borrowed from our brother-in-law. We aren't the biggest fans of egg nog around here but we are fans of this recipe! It may become a new family tradition!

We spent the evening making shortbread - my great-great grandmother's recipe she brought from Scotland.

And then we watched Prancer - a tradition from when I was a kid.

Yule-Tiding it Up

2011-12-14T13:23:00.001-06:00

Between finals, holiday-crazed third graders and packing for California, we are a little crazy around here. I woke up at 7:40 today. School starts at 7:25. You can only guess how that went. Yes, I am wearing my pajama shirt under my sweatshirt right now. And no, I am not wearing make-up. ( I may have had pillow-case creases on my face that have since cleared up!) And only 1 kid had anything brutally honest to say about it. Not bad!

If things keep going like this and I don't get around to say it to you before the end of December- Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

I hope yours is awesome!

We too gave some thanks

2011-12-08T20:58:00.001-06:00

Our super super nice friends Robb and Lindsay invited us over for Thanksgiving this year. It was a wonderful meal and was followed up by some much needed conversation and some pumpkin parfaits.

Because being vain only once in your life isn't enough....

2011-12-06T09:40:00.001-06:00

I was going through all the photos on our hard drive and found our wedding photos. I forgot how much I love them! I thought it was interesting that some of my favorite photos from the time are no longer my favorites. I now cherish the ones that are silly and cute and show the amazing relationships we have with amazing people.

And I can't also help but notice how amazing it is that decent photos exist of Eric and I considering we are some of the least photogenic people in the universe! I thought it was high time I give some of my favorites a little more love.

An Winter's Evening Walk

2011-12-04T21:21:00.000-06:00

The Book Nook

2011-12-03T21:06:00.001-06:00

Eric spent all of last weekend (in an attempt to procrastinate the impending weeks of writing) putting up new bookcases in our loft. I love it. I love it a lot. But Eric has since taken it over with his research, laptops and diet Dr. Pepper cans. Maybe I can have the space back come January when finals are officially over until May.

We tried for days to come up with a creative name for the newly cleaned out, organized space.... but we tried in vain. All we could come up with is "book nook." Feel free to suggest an alternative.

My New Spot on the River

2011-11-30T20:30:00.001-06:00

The other day I finally was able to head down to Lake Austin. Even though it is called a lake... it looks like a river. I don't think I will ever call it a lake.

But anyway, I found a great little nook near the water with fabulous sunset views.

It's that time of year!

2011-11-29T19:36:00.000-06:00

No, not the holidays. It's FINALS time.

Which means, in our house, that I won't see much of Eric until break and that Eric has a monopoly on the computers.

And not just one computer....

The weekend.. or most of it anyway

2011-11-28T21:45:00.000-06:00

Our weekend was pretty darn awesome and rather productive if I do say so myself. Eric had a big paper to write so instead he tackled a home improvement project! (I can't complain on that one) He turned our loft space into my "book nook." Its a pretty great place for a cozy indoor picnic.

Chelsea and Ben came over for a cozy indoor picnic in the book nook!

We also got more lovely veggies in the lastest CSA box. If you are in Austin and haven't checked out Johnson's Backyard, I highly highly recommend it.

I gave a talk on Sunday. Scary but had so much fun researching.

I also finally planted our strawberries. I love austin. Planting strawberries in November. Awesome.

We watched lots of Battlestar Galactica. Or "The BG" as we now call it.

And what weekend is complete without french toast....?

Picnic

2011-11-27T21:43:00.001-06:00

Last weekend we had a really neat chance to have a picnic with many of the other people in Eric's graduate program. They are all so nice and welcoming and so interesting to talk to. We had amazing food - ceviche, barbeque, tostadas... It really was a fabulous way to spend a warm autumn night.

2011-11-25T09:14:00.000-06:00

The other day we made a wrong turn. When we came to an area where we could turn around we were surprised with some fall color! Not necessarily Fancy-Pants-East-Coast-Autumn-Colors, but bright and bold all the same. We jumped out to walk around and enjoy the pretty colors a bit before getting back in the car to find our way back to where we were actually supposed to be.

Yes, I ate cookies for Lunch AND Dinner Yesterday

2011-11-23T08:40:00.000-06:00

I couldn't help it. They are so good. AND the worst part is, they taste (and are) just healthy enough that I can convince myself that eating them for not 1, but 2 meals in a row, is perfectly within recommend daily nutrition. (if only I had a side of pizza....) Just in case you are also looking for a way to round out your hips and thighs, look no further... homemade thin mints!

Homemade and All-natural Thin Mint Recipe

Taken from 101 Cookbooks

Chocolate Wafers:
8 ounces organic butter, room temperature
1 cup organic powdered sugar,1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract
1 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

Chocolate Peppermint Coating:
1 pound good quality semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
natural peppermint oil to taste

Preheat your oven to 350. Racks in the middle zone.

Make the cookie dough: In a mixer cream the butter until it is light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and cream some more, scraping the sides of the bowl a couple times if necessary. Stir in the vanilla extract and then the salt and cocoa powder. Mix until the cocoa powder is integrated and the batter is smooth and creamy, sort of like a thick frosting. Add the whole wheat pastry flour and mix just until the batter is no longer dusty looking, it might still be a bit crumbly, and that's o.k. You don't want to over mix and end up with tough cookies.
Turn the dough out onto a counter, gather it into a ball, and kneed it just once or twice to bring it together into once nice, smooth mass. Place the ball of dough into a large plastic bag and flatten it into a disk roughly 3/4-inch thick. Place the dough in the freezer for 20 minutes to chill.

Rollout and bake: Remove the dough from the freezer and roll it out really thin, remember how thin Thin Mints are? That's how thin you need your dough, about 1/8-inch. You can either roll it out between two sheets of plastic, or dust your counter and rolling pin with a bit of flour and do it that way. Stamp out cookies using a 1 1/2-inch cutter (this time I used one with a fluted edge, I've done hearts and other shapes in the past). Place cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool completely on a baking rack if you've got one.

Make the peppermint coating:
While the cookies are in the oven you can get the coating ready. I use a makeshift double boiler to melt chocolate (a metal pan over a saucepan of gently simmering water), but I know many people who swear by melting chocolate in the microwave. Slowly melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally until it is glossy and smooth. Stir in the peppermint extract. If you think the chocolate needs a bit more peppermint kick, add more extract a drop or two at a time - but don't go overboard.

Finishing the cookies: You are going to coat the cookies one at a time and then gently set them on a parchment-lined baking sheet to set. Drop one cookie into the chocolate and (using a fork) carefully make sure it gets fully coated. Lift the cookie out of the chocolate with the fork and bang the fork on the side of the pan to drain any extra chocolate off the cookie. You are after a thin, even coating of chocolate. Place on the aforementioned prepared baking sheet, and repeat for the rest of the cookies. Place the cookies in the refrigerator or freezer to set. They will set at room temperature, it just takes much longer, and I prefer them straight out of the freezer anyways

Make 3 or 4 dozen cookies.

2011-11-22T09:30:00.000-06:00

I also love the grey and looming clouds that cover Austin so often lately. Last night I was having this awesome dream about playing baseball on a field on my farm (no, i sadly do not actually have a farm in real life) when our game had to end because of crazy lightning. I suddenly woke-up to some crazy, real-life lightning. I had to run out and bring all my lettuce plants in from the porch so they didn't die from all the rain we were getting! It was the most exciting thing to happen to me at 4am in a long time.

My Love Letter to Austin, Texas

2011-11-21T18:43:00.006-06:00

I love Austin. I can't get over it. I love the light just before the sun goes down. ( It feels like I am living in a perpetual episode of Friday Night Lights. ) I love the giant sky. I love that it is November and 70 degrees. I love the giant Live Oaks. I love how friendly everyone is. Here my nice-ness is a strength not a liability. Austin may not be for everyone, but I feel like I was made for a place like Austin.

Glimpses of my 9-5

2011-11-10T17:13:00.001-06:00

wait... make that more 7 - 7...

Fredericksburg

2011-11-02T18:59:00.003-05:00

On our way back from the park we stopped in Fredericksburg for dinner. We went to Hondos - which, if you are ever in Texas, I highly recommend for many reasons. The decor is just one.

Our personal favorite part of Fredericksburg was the dancing garlic!

Hike through Lost Maples Park

2011-10-31T17:01:00.004-05:00

Garner State Park

2011-10-30T19:58:00.005-05:00

This weekend we ran off to the hills for some camping and some fall colors.
We spent the night in Garner State Park after arriving at 11:30 pm... We apparently do everything slowly because we made a drive that was supposed to last 3 hours in 6. I think we have quite a talent.

The next morning we took down camp, ate some breakfast and wandered around the park.

We found some air plants growing everywhere! I had no idea these existed in places outside boutique NYC florists.

Our ILife

2011-10-27T17:54:00.002-05:00

Okay, lame-o title. I know. But I couldn't help it I tell you!!

So after Steve Jobs' death we found this little interactive article by The New York Times

Eric and I were talking about how our lives would be different, if at all, without the products on this list. So we started counting all of the apple products in our lives...

Crazy right!?

(just so ya'll don't judge us... the ipods don't work and 1 ipad/keyboard belong to my school.. I'm just the lucky one that gets to take it home!)

Holy Bats Batman!

2011-10-25T21:51:00.001-05:00

After an intense sick day (read: almost 22 straight hours of sleep) I got up the energy to go see the famous Austin Bats before they migrate south to Mexico for the winter. My third graders are currently doing a bat unit and we spend at least an hour a day talking about the differences between micro and mega bats. I did not even know such a distinction existed and now Eric is sick of my daily bat updates over dinner.

Anyway, Austin is known for the biggest urban bat colony in the U.S. Experts estimate that there are 1.5 million Mexican Free Tail bats living under the South Congress Bridge at the height of the season.

Its a pretty big community event!

Sorry for the awful pictures but its a little difficult to capture thousands of tiny bats zooming through the dark sky...
This went on for a good 10 minutes before I was exhausted and we headed back home. I'm sure more kept coming though!

Look very closely at all those little black spots flying out from beneath the bridge

Gypsy Picnic

2011-10-23T21:33:00.002-05:00

This weekend was the Gypsy Picnic - a trailer food festival. Austin is pretty serious about it's food trucks. And unlike NYC, there are designated food truck areas so you don't have to follow trucks around with your twitter in order to find them! But this festival was even better because all of our favorites were all in the same lot!

We always start with dessert! Frozen hot chocolate and frozen banana!

Beautiful sunset

pretty great music

Food Truck Friday

2011-10-21T15:12:00.003-05:00

Last weekend we went out with our trusty buddies - Chelsea and Ben - for some foodtruck lovin'. We started with some taco/cones from The Mighty Cone. They were pretty darn tasty. I loved that hot-n-crunchy sauce but we were all still hungry afterward!

Never fear - Gourdoughs was down the street and around the corner with their monstrous donuts! All in all a successful friday night.

The Birds

2011-10-19T12:35:00.002-05:00

The Birds in this area of Austin are unlike anything I have ever seen outside of a Hitchcock movie. They are so loud! There is a particular tree I walk past on my way to the gym that is deafening right after sundown. It freaks me out a little. But all in all I am glad to be surrounded by them.

Dating

2011-10-18T20:32:00.000-05:00

The other day the guys at The Jalopy thought Eric and I were on our first date. Nope, it was our 1,235th and we are just still that awkward. (and we were a little weird-ed out by their super-hipster 'staches) Made me grateful though that I'm not still "dating." So did this...

oh yeah, and remember this?

Growing Up... Not so bad

2011-10-17T21:45:00.001-05:00

Cute

We went to San Antonio but I feel like we forgot something...

2011-10-15T11:33:00.004-05:00

Last weekend we made the trip out to San Antonio. Its about 1 1/2 hours from Austin. It always surprises us when we leave the city limits that we "actually live in Texas." Austin just doesn't feel like the Texas I'd always heard about. But the rest of Texas certainly does!

Anyway, here is the highlights of San Antonio.

Yummy cheesecake fudge...

Down by the river it was SO much greener than anything we had seen since arriving in Austin

I found myself feeling safe among the old art-deco architecture. Part of me still belongs in New York I guess

Eric went straight from running 12 miles to jumping in the car... he was a little sore...

We had a fancy-shmancy dinner at Biga along the river walk. Eric was all Texan-Like and tried the quail and venison

My favorite was the desert with an entire layer of marshmallow!

In case you were starting to think Eric went to San Antonio alone... here I am!

(Next time we're there we will remember the Alamo)

Interesting Search Terms Info Right?

2011-10-13T22:05:00.001-05:00

Source: google.com via Jane on Pinterest

5 Pointz

2011-10-11T23:30:00.000-05:00

On one of our very last days in NYC we headed out to Queens to see Ps. 1 but we got distracted by 5 Pointz.

Ira Glass on Creativity

2011-10-11T21:10:00.001-05:00

Bill Cunningham

2011-10-10T22:46:00.000-05:00

Watched the most fascinating little documentary this weekend about Bill Cunningham. We loved it. But it did make us a bit sad to be away from New York City.

Turkey Legs and Caber Tosses... Just your average Weekend in Austin!

2011-10-10T07:00:00.000-05:00

A couple of weekends ago we headed out into the wild west of the rest of Texas and went to a Scottish Games Festival. I'm not sure what to say about it...

I don't want to brag or anything... but we're pretty amazing knife throwers

Occupy Austin

2011-10-09T22:39:00.003-05:00

I love me some infographics: Check out the Article at NYMagazine about Occupy Wall Street

Wendy's Knows What's Up

2011-10-09T22:10:00.002-05:00

Has anyone else seen this little diddy? or is it only playing in Austin? If you have, I just want you to know, that's our new hometown! I found this little breakdown by Republic of Austin to let you know the truth about South Congress.

Nerd Map of New York City

2011-10-08T21:49:00.000-05:00

Oh how I wish we'd seen this before we left. I guess we'll just have to go back... bummer.

seen here

Barton Springs Pool

2011-10-06T15:02:00.001-05:00

On Labor Day we finally got the opportunity to visit the famous Barton Springs Pool. Its pretty awesome if you aren't afraid of water plant life wrapping around your leg. Luckily I am more afraid of chlorine than I am of plants so I found it pretty great. Check out more here!

To Cut or Not to Cut

2011-10-05T14:53:00.001-05:00

My hair is finally all one length. This may be the first time since 6th grade that this has happened. But of course I feel the need to do something drastic... doesn't everyone feel that way?... So I asked my friend Rubi who is a hair genius and the only person I trust to give me a great haircut what I should do. She sent me some suggestions. Now I just have to decide - to cut or not to cut...

Our New Friend....

2011-10-03T10:14:00.001-05:00

He's the kind of friend that lays on our window pan while the sun goes down and drives us crazy with his chewing at the window frame. As if all of our other "surprises" when moving in weren't enough... We're working on evicting him.

Way Back When, Old Sport

2011-10-02T09:35:00.003-05:00

It feels like years ago now but way back when Eric and I went to the Jazz Age picnic on Governor's Island. It was so much fun. It was very crowded but what isn't in NY so we were game. We had a picnic, listened to the band, and danced for a bit. Then road home on the subway in our awesome outfits.

Clear Eyes, Full Heart, and Such

2011-09-26T18:27:00.004-05:00

Bybee Family Reunion

2011-09-15T20:53:00.006-05:00

We haven't been so great about posting this summer but I hope these next few gigantic posts will help you to forgive us!

After leaving NYC and finding an apartment in Texas we headed out to the Bybee family Reunion in Utah. It was pretty epic, if I do say so myself, and did not include any camping in the dirt - I did not know a family reunion could exist without dirt camping.

The Boys built a dam in the stream...not the little boys. Just the big boys. I'm not sure why...

We stayed at Snowbird which was beautiful

I made a new best friend. She's 5 and pretty awesome.

It was really tough being there. Reeeally tough as you can see.

One of my favorite moments may have been hanging out with Josh and Noah while waiting for the zipline. I may have ran away with terror without them.

I also loved the mechanical bull. Every family reunion needs one!

Preview of more FNL (as eric likes to call it) to come!

2011-09-02T10:05:00.000-05:00

This made us even more obsessed... http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6766070/clear-eyes-full-hearts-lose

My favorite quote of all :

Chandler (coach taylor): I was back home in Los Angeles and we wanted to put a gate up in our yard. The fella came over and said, "Mr. Chandler, how do you want me to build this?" I said, "I'm not going to tell you how to build this gate. You just look around at what's here, and you build the best gate you can. Be as creative as you want. Take your time, and just give me a good gate." That gate's probably going to stand for 400 years.

Wow-zah

2011-09-01T22:01:00.002-05:00

Janie Taylor for Chloé on Nowness.com.

"New York City Ballet principal Janie Taylor road tests Chloé’s dance-inspired spring/summer 2011 collection with choreographer and corps de ballet member Justin Peck in today’s short by director Bon Duke. Set to Philip Glass’s “String Quartet No. 3, 'Mishima': IV. 1962: Body Building,""

While Stuck in Lake Havasu

2011-08-31T16:05:00.004-05:00

Our summer did not go as expected. It was supposed to be a painless, easy transition from NYC to Austin full of family, friends and driving off into the sunset. But that plan was messed up by a broken car, a lost moving pod and several large cockroaches. The adventure should have been over and our lives back into place weeks ago but we are just now settling in.

But it was an adventure and are feeling great. But in case you are wondering what lake havasu was like (cuz I know you all are) we tried to make it as pretty as humanly possible (and since we had a whole 9 days to try, I think we did a pretty good job). So, as my new students always say, drumroll please!

Lake Havasu

We decided to take the highway up the side of lake havasu on our way to the Grand Canyon. And it was a nice, backwoods-y feeling drive. We had lots of snacks and were listening to Bossypants and it was pretty great.

We drove past Lake Havasu City and saw a sign for the London Bridge (what...!?!) and I remembered reading in a piano primer book that the london bridge had been bought and moved to arizona. So of course we stopped to look. But being 112 degrees outside we jumped out, took a picture and ran for refuge in the air conditioned car.

Just outside of the city, after filling up with $60 worth of gas, we come up over a hill and see a large chunk in the highway. Being well trained, eric doesn't swerve and we hit the chunk with a sickening thud. Suddenly the power steering goes out and we knew it was not going to be good. We pull over immediately and see gas streaming out of the bottom of the car. Luckily we weren't far from the city so Eric grabs his cell phone and starts heading back to town on foot, leaving me standing on the side of the road with a car streaming gas in 112 degree heat. awwwwwwesome. We were so lucky when some state workers stopped by with a cooler full of water and a walkie talkie with connections to the highway patrol.

We eventually got a tow to town and were dropped off at the lovely (read: cheap!) Sands "Resort"

We spent our days sleeping in, watching cable television (we now love hoarders, intervention and swamp people!) and working out in the ghe-tto motel gym.

Once the sun started to go down we would venture out for some food at one of the lovely Havasu establishments.

And then make the mile walk (after dark it is still over 100 degrees by the way) to the movie theaters. We saw 3 movies in 72 hours.

We each read a book or 2 before the week was up. We highly recommend The Social Animal (thanks sara!)

Only on our last day did we head over to the bridge for a second look. And of course, Eric had to walk across it.

I must admit, it was pretty.

And 8 days after "driving through" we got our car back from the mechanics (with a serendipitous rat-made hole in the passenger seat) we drove out of Havasu and on to Mesa.

The Bronx

2011-08-14T01:42:00.001-05:00

Across from my School

View from The Bruckner Expressway

On the 6 Train

Across from Yankee Stadium

Selma...Or, THE Raisin Capital of the WORLD

2011-08-12T17:06:00.000-05:00

Raisins are no joke here

I, for one, did not know that Kiwis grow on vines

When we got to Selma we were immediately whisked off to a concert in the park. No kidding, the best 1812 Overture I have ever heard. Complete with cannon fire and church bells.

Final Days in NYC according to my iphone

2011-08-11T01:26:00.000-05:00

Robin Williams Play

Red Bulls Game

Lunch at Spice Market

5 Pointz

Lunch with old friends at M. Wells in Queens

Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge with Sara

Last Dinner in NYC above Columbus Circle

Santa Monica

2011-08-10T01:17:00.000-05:00

Griffeth Observatory

2011-08-09T01:07:00.000-05:00

The Upside of Being Stranded in the Middle of Nowhere

2011-08-08T16:15:00.001-05:00

no distractions from SHARK WEEK!!!!

i swear we have seen 15 hours at least of shark footage. this was the most epic of episodes. crazy african jumping sharks.

p.s. it's also mob week on AMC. how did we get so lucky?!?

via Chris Fallows of apexpredators.com

My First Trip to L.A.

2011-08-07T22:39:00.005-05:00

Yosemite Day 2

2011-08-05T21:31:00.002-05:00

I would really like to be a geologist in another life. A life where I don't actually have t get a degree or anything. Just hike (or nature walk) and love really cool rocks.

seriously though, isn't that swoop incredible!?

Our "nature walk" led us to the lake and the base of Half Dome.

We snacked on raspberries growing along the river. How much more epic summer-time can you get!?

Well, we thought it could be more epically summer if we went swimming in the river. But we weren't wearing swimsuits. So we just had to jump in with all of our clothes. It was the best moment of the trip. Coldest, but best.

I think I would also like to be an entomologist in that second life as well.

check out that snaggle tooth grin. it's totally in right now - check it out

Our All American Summer - In no particular Order

2011-08-04T21:15:00.003-05:00

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. - John Muir

After some time with my family we headed to Yosemite. It was incredible. We drove in through the north and stopped along with several rented campers full of Europeans to take pictures of the first sight of the valley.

Eric really wanted to go hiking. I was lazy. We compromised with a "nature walk" up to the lower falls.

Eric may be risk averse when it comes to others, he has no problem scampering along wet boulders towards a rushing waterfall.

Before heading in for the night we waded through the freezing, but beautiful river.

Then walked back across the meadow towards our car to drive to our campground 20 miles out of the valley.

We're Okay... Just Sweaty

2011-08-03T14:03:00.002-05:00

While on our way to the Grand Canyon during our Great American Summer of 2011, we hit a bump in the road. Not just any bump. A large chunk of metal bump that has put our lovely car out for a few days. But not to worry, we are in the most awesome of all south west towns - Lake Havasu City. What's that you say? You've never heard of it?! Well you are missing out.

I can do Bikhram Yoga in the living room of the Sands Resort Suite because it is just that hot and humid. And, the London Bridge is here as well. But, it's too hot to go outside so our picture from the car just minutes before the bump will have to be our lasting memory.

But all in all we're glad we're safe and in an air-conditioned hotel. And, it has a pool. (but it's over 90 degrees in there!)

Gravity

2011-06-26T18:18:00.002-05:00

Type "Google Gravity" into google search and click on "I'm Feeling Lucky"