Graduation Goggles

Do any of you watch How I Met Your Mother? If you don't, you totally should. We even got Paul into it.

If you do, you may have seen the episode where Robin talks about "Graduation Goggles". Remember that feeling you may (or may not) have had when you were about to graduate from high school? You know, the feeling that you couldn't believe it was over and that you hadn't spent enough time with your classmates and that you were sad that you may never see some of them again even though they bullied you last week or until today you didn't even know who they were? Those are the graduation goggles.



I got 'em and I got 'em bad.

End of summer? I'm so sad because I can't believe it's almost over even though I spent most of it complaining that it was too hot. End of a class for the semester? I'm so sad because I might not take another class in that classroom again even though I hated the 2 hour commute to get there. 

In less than a month, I will turn 30 and I can't help but think to myself, "I am so sad because my 20s are ending! My 20s were amazing! I should have done more! I should have lost weight! I should have traveled more!" And my 20s were great. I had so many adventures and I laughed a lot.

Pic of 21 year old me in my first apartment in New York taken on my first camera phone!

But at the same time, I am also trying to remind myself that I struggled at times during my 20s. When I was 20 I did stupid, immature things. I stressed my parents out. In my 20's, I struggled with who I was and who I wanted to be. At 21, I moved to New York City all by myself. It was the best decision I ever made, but there were times when I was so lonely.

Knowing that you have graduation goggles or that you tend to get sad when something is coming to an end, even if it's something you think you'd rather leave behind, is one way that I try to enjoy the moments that I am currently experiencing.

I hope that with age comes more wisdom, more self awareness, and more comfort with who I am. I hope I remember to take advantage of every moment of my 30s. I hope that when I'm turning 40, I can say to myself, "Wow, my 30s were pretty amazing and that's not even the graduation goggles talking."

Everyone needs more cowbell

This past weekend, my dad, my sister, and I took a road trip to Vermont for our family reunion. Every year, my dad's side of the family rents a camp (or cottage or lake house for those of you non-New Englanders). As many family members as possible come to the camp for the weekend to eat too much and laugh and catch up.

Here's a glimpse into the ride up to Vermont. My sister and my dad think this song needs more cowbell. I think I agree.

(If you don't get the reference I'm making, watch this video.)

Most of our traditions involve food. Every year, my parents bring about 30 pounds of clams from Maine to the camp. This year was the first year they weren't all eaten (but several of the regulars weren't there to help). My tiny great-Aunt Theresa definitely did her part! After this picture was taken, she made a ridiculous clam shell mountain. You'll probably have to check out my sister's blog for that picture though.

Oh and did I mention that the 30 pounds of clams are the appetizer? After that, my uncles grill up some burgers and hot dogs, we have green salad, potato salad, fruit salad, and quinoa salad. My aunt Janine also makes an increddddddible stromboli that is always a part of the Saturday evening meal. Thinking about this meal makes me full.

Our other food traditions include eating many, many cannoli and Italian cookies. Since my aunt and uncle bring the cannoli from Connecticut, they usually freeze them so that they stay fresh on the ride up to Vermont. Most of us can't wait for them to unfreeze so ever since I remember, I've eaten frozen cannoli. It wasn't until I moved to New York that I realized that cannoli aren't usually frozen! (If you haven't tried frozen cannoli, it's soooo good!)

Sunday morning, my uncle Mark and aunt Vickie make "Egg McMarks". I'm sure you can guess what that means. If you guessed yummy breakfast sandwich goodness, you would be right.

The backdrop to all of this eating is also pretty incredible.

Not bad, huh?

Before we headed back to Maine, we stopped at one of my favorite places from when I went to school at the University of Vermont. Al's French Frys. Yes, that's spelled correctly.

Yummmmm. Apparently we didn't eat enough at the reunion. We may or may not have stopped for ice cream later in the trip too. Oops.

But do you know the best part of going on a road trip??

Coming home. 

So you had a bad day...

I shall resist the urge to sing that awful Daniel Powter song right now. (What happened to good ole DP anyway??) But yes, I had a bad day. Or actually a bad morning. It's amazing what a happy hour with co-workers with the tab paid by the company can do for bad days.

Yesterday morning, nothing was going right. I woke up not feeling very well (7:06). It was 88 degrees at 8:00 this morning so even when I came out of the shower, I was sweating. My hair and make-up looked horrible. Oh and my face decided to break-out too. Sweet. Oh yeah and I forgot to put mascara on my lower lashes. Who does that?! This girl.

I was moving pretty slowly to begin with, but I actually got out of the house at a pretty good time (8:30). Thursday is Bronx's day to go to daycare and play with his little friends. Usually when I open the door to the car, he jumps right in. Not yesterday. No, yesterday he decided to drop one right next to the car. In LoLo's parking spot. Being the good wife that I am, I grabbed a little bag and cleaned it up. Finally we were on our way (8:33).

Then, I stupidly put my faith in the Dunkin Donuts across the street to supply me with my breakfast and of course, they took FOR-EV-ER to make my bagel and they didn't even get it right. After I told them twice (8:45).  

Once I finally received my bagel with the cream cheese only on one side (why do they do that?!), Bronx and I were on our way to daycare where we proceeded to wait for someone to come downstairs and pick up Bronx. Oh and Bronx decided it would be a good time to just pee on their floor and then slip in it. Awesome (8:52).

So then I was finally on my way to work. I get to my exit and I have a green light to turn right. But look out! Here come three cars bombing through their red light into the lane I was turning into. Thank God I was paying attention or I would have been hit by all three of them. Oh and the kicker? One of them waved at me as he flew through the red light and proceeded through all of the green lights that turned red by the time I got to them (8:57).

I get up to my desk (9:10) and get ready to put my lunch away when I realize that the english muffin I brought to make a sandwich with had mold on it. Fabulous!

After I settled in at work, things got better. My team was sent an invite from my boss to a "very important meeting" located at a "local outdoor drinking establishment". And I started to realize, I was letting really little things get me down. Who cares that I was a couple minutes late to work? Who cares that I looked like a hot (literally) mess?

My dearest blog friends, it's all about your attitude. It's all about what you focus on or choose not to focus on. It's all about happy hours.

p.s. I promise I will stop writing all these posts without pretty pictures. I just haven't been taking pictures much lately. Hot mess, remember?

My new job... all the details!

So now that I have been officially employed for 2 whole months (!!), I figure it's about time I told you all a little more about what I'm actually doing.

CIEE is a non-profit organization that provides study and work abroad opportunities for a variety of types of people. We have offices in Portland, Maine and all over the world in our Study Centers.

My official title is Senior Coordinator of Custom and Faculty-Led Programs. Long title, I know. The short explanation of what I do is that I serve as a liaison between our study centers around the world and colleges and universities in the US that have a faculty member who would like to take a group of students to another country.

The longer, more fun explanation is that every day, I get to work with people all over the world to design really exciting programs that real live students get to go on. Here are a few examples of programs I've helped to design.

1.) A month long trip to the Dominican Republic where students get to stay with Dominican families and immerse themselves in Dominican culture. For a welcome dinner, they get to have a huge authentic Dominican meal while a DJ plays Dominican music. Maybe I'm biased here since I happen to be pretty close with someone who is Dominican (ok so I'm more than pretty close, he happens to be my cute husband), but that sounds like so much fun!

A month here? Yes, please. (This also happens to be the beach where we had our honeymoon!) via

2.) A trip to Tokyo to study art. When most schools come to me to ask where to take an art class, Tokyo is not the first place I send them. But this professor is really ambitious and enthusiastic and she decided that even though she's never been to Tokyo, she is taking an entire class there to spend a week studying and reflecting. They will even take a weekend retreat to an island nearby.

3.) A trip to Berlin, Munich, and Krakow to follow the history of the Holocaust and how it is being remembered and memorialized today. Although the topic is very sad and can be overwhelming, our staff is really good at making sure there's some balance. This group is going to go to a really fun festival while they are in Krakow and will get to attend concerts and actually meet the musicians.

These are the musicians the students get to meet performing at the festival they will go to! via

4.) A trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to study how they are preparing for the Olympics and the World Cup. This is the trip I REALLY want to go on with the students. They are going to get behind the scenes views of the soccer stadium, meet with the police force there to talk about security, fly kites with children in one of the favelas, and take a gondola ride over another of the favelas.

And of course, they'll go here too. via

Don't these trips just sound fabulous?? I am so jealous of the opportunity these students have to go and explore the world.

As many of you heard though, I will be going to Shanghai, China in November to attend CIEE's annual conference. Before the conference, I get to co-lead a group that will visit our study center in Shanghai. I can't believe I get to go!

Many people say that everything happens for a reason and I absolutely believe it. While my time of unemployment was hard, I tried to keep telling myself that something would come along that would make me realize why I had to go through it. This job was it. I'm living a dream. I'm doing work that I love and I'm getting opportunities that I never thought I would have.

I'm so glad you're all along for the ride. Hopefully soon I will be able to put pictures of my own showing all of the exciting places I get to go!

Adventures with the Ice Cream Truck

When I was growing up, I always wished my town had an ice cream truck. I think in the 18 years that I lived in my parents' house, an ice cream truck passed our house once and when we heard the music, we were so shocked that we didn't move and it drove right by.

I think that this lack of an ice cream truck in my childhood led to an obsession during my adulthood. Like seriously obsessed. To the point where I had no shame (or rather I didn't even think about it) when running outside in my slippers to chase the truck down.

Stop, ice cream truck! via

LoLo always makes fun of me because I can hear music from an ice cream truck a mile away. It's a real skill.

When we lived in the Bronx, we lived in a pretty residential area. Our house was right across from a Catholic school, one block from the projects, and one block from an amazing pizza place. The ice cream truck always stopped in front of the pizza place, in front of the projects, and near the school, but never on our block. So when I would hear the music, I knew I didn't have long to run out and chase the truck.

A couple of times when I couldn't find the truck, I would get in my car and drive around until I found it. No matter who was in the car. More than once I kidnapped LoLo and took him on a wild ride to find the ice cream truck. I told you, obsessed.

When I would find the truck, sometimes I had to stalk the truck. Sometimes I had to follow it for a few blocks before he would pull over.

And sometimes, I had to sneak around him and cut him off and park right in front of him to make him stop. Because ice cream is that important to me.

via

Now that we are back in Maine, I have noticed that there is an ice cream truck that passes by my house and there was even one that passed by my office. But there's a difference. In New York, the ice cream truck carries a wide variety of treats (soft serve, sundaes, milkshakes, ice cream pops, popsicles, etc.) but in Maine, there is no soft serve, milkshakes, or sundaes. Just ice cream on a stick. I'm not a fan.

I will say though, whenever I hear the music, I stop whatever I'm doing and check for the door. Ask my co-workers. They laughed at me when I jumped up from my desk and ran to the window to find the truck. Unfortunately though, my desk is on the 5th floor and no matter how slow that truck is driving, I would never catch it.

Mister Softee, if you can hear me, can you drive your truck up to Maine??? Pleeeeeeease? With a cherry on top???

Yard Work: The Sequel

So remember a few months ago when I confessed that LoLo and I were those neighbors who were a little bit lazy slow about cleaning up the lawn? Well, we honestly haven't gotten any better about it. Check out the evidence below.

Do not adjust your screen, that grass is up to LoLo's shins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One change of clothes later...and he's done. 

 

 

 

The final product

LoLo mowed about half the lawn, I did the other half. He weed whacked the flowerbeds and the little areas we couldn't get to with the mower. I hand weeded the flower beds. I washed and scrubbed the porch and stairs. He swept the patio. Bronx watched. Very attentively, I might add.

Today, I can barely move.

When I get rich, I am hiring landscapers. And housekeepers. And cooks.

I better start getting rich.

Warning: Another Controversial Post...Immigration

Today, you may have heard that the Department of Homeland Security unveiled a plan to issue work permits to young people who are here in the US without documentation who meet certain criteria. If you haven't heard about this announcement, please learn more. Like I've told you before, I know it's not proper to talk about politics at a party, but since it's my party, I make the rules.

Those of you who read my sister's blog probably read a post a couple weeks ago where she outted me politically to the blog world (and consequently called to apologize for not letting me come out in my own time, in my own way). If you didn't read that post, it's right here. So if you're still with me, now that you know a little about my politics, you might be surprised to learn that I completely support President Obama's decision to put this program in place.

I know, I know, Republicans never like immigrants! (Please please please pick up on my sarcasm there, even though some of you think that statement is correct...) And maybe I'm the first one that you know who does. But please, stop and think about this for a minute. I am socially quite liberal, but economically I'm conservative. As a fiscal conservative, I'm all for adding productive, motivated, educated workers to our workforce. It creates competition and you know Republicans love competition!

I also believe that people should never be punished for decisions that were made for them. Again, think about this. The people who are eligible for this program came to the US when they were children under the age of 16. Someone else made a decision for them that could potentially affect the rest of their lives. And let's say they made the decision themselves when they were under 16. Would you want to be punished for the rest of your life for a decision you made when you were younger than 16? (I'm talking to you, former shoplifters, trespassers, and underage drinkers!)

Apparently, my sister and I had the same blog idea today which doesn't surprise me. We both have students (hers are past and present, mine are from my days as a college counselor in NYC) that we care about very much who will be positively affected by this policy. We also have others who we care about for whom this policy does not affect directly, but are able to feel just a little more hope for their future in the United States.

If you made it this far in a post full of words and without pretty pictures, I appreciate it. I know that heavy topics like this are sometimes just easier to brush under the rug and forget that they exist. But imagine if you were one of my students and your life just changed forever today. I hope you just got goosebumps like I just did. 

Happy weekend, everyone. I hope you enjoy it and take a second to think about the things you are grateful for. Today, I'm grateful for the ability to be unafraid.

Selfishness

Our generation is extremely selfish. We think we are the best. We think we deserve everything. We think we should have what we want when we want it.

In many ways, this is a great thing. We work hard because we want to prove we are the best. We want every award. We do what we have to do to get what we want.

But as you might suspect I would say, it can also be a hurtful and harmful quality. When we only think about ourselves, we forget about the responsibility we have to others. Take for example close relationships. When we think only of ourselves in any close relationship, the other person gets the message that they are not as good, not as worthy, and that their interests and needs are not important.

As I've talked about before, my husband has a million and one hobbies. In one of my last posts, I revealed that I finally found my hobby, blogging. My hobby is free. My husband's hobbies? Not so free.

This weekend, I had to go downstairs to the cave man (check the glossary of Erinisms if you're confused right now) to get some of my laundry. While I was down there, I happened to look at the entertainment center. As any cave man should have, there is a huge television complete with a Playstation. But something was different. I looked and there was a set of "night vision goggles" that go with the Call of Duty game. My husband has been asking if he could buy these for at least a year. I kept telling him to wait because I knew I was going to be unemployed, then I was unemployed, and now that I have a job, we've been trying to catch up on everything we had to put on hold while I looked for work. Things like fixing up the house and buying Bronx a new crate.

50 bucks? Really? You look like an idiot.

But apparently, he couldn't wait any longer and went ahead and bought them anyways. We're only talking about $50 here, but I asked him to wait and he didn't. He wanted what he wanted and he wanted it now.

Anyone remember Veruca Salt from Willy Wonka? Or is my family the only weird one that quotes, "I want it now, Daddy! I want it now!" in a British accent all the time? (I told you we were weird!)

Wtf is a bean feast? And who really wants one? Trust me, girl, you don't want the aftermath of that.

I feel like we are a generation of Veruca Salts and we are going to end up going down the "bad egg" chute to the incinerator. 

So do I think LoLo purposely set out to make me upset? No. But do I think that maybe he was just being a little selfish and not thinking about what his financial planner wife might think? Absolutely. 

Watch out LoLo. I might go all Veruca Salt on you. I might want a bean feast. (Ok let's be honest, that would never happen.) And then you would end up following me down the "bad egg" chute. You don't want that right? That's what I thought.

What has made me laugh this week

Over the past week, I have had some very good laughs and thought I should share the wealth with you. Although this post will be random, all the stories will have one thing in common: they will make you laugh!

1.) One night last week, right before I went to sleep, I was planning what I was going to wear to work the next day. I like to talk it out with LoLo because he is very good about giving me suggestions. I was planning to wear a black and white striped dress so I said to LoLo, "I really just need a red belt for this outfit." So LoLo said, "So get into Kung Fu!"

This would have been perfect for my outfit. via

2.) The next night, when I was actually wearing that outfit, LoLo and I went to a local pizza place for a sandwich. Sitting next to us was a table of about 12-14 women who were at least 2 rounds in already. They were discussing the 50 Shades of Grey books. Do the math: 14 women + 2 rounds of drinks + sexually explicit books = loud storytelling with no filter. (For some reason, I seem to be a magnet for these types of discussions!) I was just sitting there with my jaw dropped, not believing the craziness I was hearing. I said to LoLo, "Ummmm are you hearing this? I can't believe they are having this conversation right now!" To which he answered, "Erin, my ears automatically block girl talk, sorry." Oh LoLo, at least you are honest.

And finally.... Number 3, the best story of all. Today, my friend wrote this on facebook: "Ummmm. A man just fell through the ceiling and onto my co-worker's desk. Everyone is fine but WTH?????" Turns out the guy was working in the attic of her office building and was crawling around and fell through the ceiling onto her co-worker's desk. He then got off the desk and walked away like nothing happened. Every time I think of this I giggle to myself. So so funny.
 
You may remember a similar story, Jackass style. If not, watch the video below.

And this just in from CNN: 

BREAKING NEWS: After a fourth inquest, a coroner says that an infant's 1980 disappearance in Australia was caused by a dingo.

The Dingo DID steal your baby!!!

I hope you got a good laugh like I did. What have you laughed about this week?

The hobby-less woman

When I was unemployed, I had lots and lots of time on my hands. I craved structure and a schedule in my life, but to be honest, I really didn't have enough activities to fill up my days. Throughout my time at home, my husband and my sister kept saying, "Don't you have any hobbies to keep you busy?" And the truth was, I didn't.

LoLo is, as I've said before, good at everything and has a million and one hobbies. My sister is no different. She is always busy. And if you need proof, check out her blog. She has an entire section of "remakes" where she's found some old piece of furniture and turned it into something fun and exciting. She also happens to put on some incredible parties. I can do neither of these things.

Yes, my sister remade this hutch! Cute, right? via

I don't have a creative mind like LoLo and my sister. I can't look at something and visualize how I could improve it.

Last summer, before I became unemployed, I worked from home. But honestly, there was no work to do because the company was closing at the end of September and we all knew it. So here I was, in a brand new house (shout outs to me and LoLo for having bought our house exactly 1 year and 6 days ago!!), with nothing to do and no hobbies.

Sure, I painted a few rooms of the house with the help of my family. We unpacked a few boxes too. But when all of that was done, I found myself feeling completely useless.

One of my painting jobs. "Cup of Cocoa" is an ugly color to have in your whole house!

 My sister said, "Come on, don't you want to make some fun decorations for your house? Look on Pinterest!" I looked on Pinterest, but I just felt even more overwhelmed by how much I couldn't do. 

She also suggested that I start a blog. But I kept telling her I had nothing to say. Nothing anyone would ever want to read about anyways. And all the blogs I'd seen had these super skinny girls with perfect partners, cute babies, amazing photography talents, and impeccable fashion. (These girls, remember?) Plus, my sister wrote her blog and there was no way I could be as funny or creative as her.

But right before I found my job, I realized I had a lot to say. It probably had something to do with the fact that my confidence was finally returning. My experience is different than anyone else's in the world. My marriage, my struggles, my puppy, my house, my idiosyncrasies, my voice, they are all my own and they are unique.

Last night, I was on the phone with my sister and her husband as they sat in traffic in Chicago. She told me that her husband, Adrian, subscribed to my blog. (Hi, Adrian!!) Then he said, "Erin, you said you had nothing to say and now you write more than your sister!"

I guess I've found my hobby. Now if only I had all day every day free... no, no, I don't really want that!!

Mean Girls

I have plenty of experience with mean girls. There may or may not have been a few at a very important event in my life. But that's another story for another day. What really bothers me is that I have this problem letting go when a mean girl hurts me. My family says that I can remember things people did to me when I was in Kindergarten. They might be right.

When it comes to mean girls, I always want some kind of closure. I want them to realize that what they did to me was wrong and regret it. I always hear that karma will get these girls, but karma always seems too slow for me.

When I was in grad school, I took advantage of the free counseling (well, as free as it gets when you pay a million dollars in tuition) at my school. I wanted to talk to someone about the fact that I hold grudges. We talked about why I felt so hurt about being wronged in different situations and how I could let go of the anger and hurt that I held on to. And while the counselor was really helpful on certain topics, this was one she didn't really help me work out. I told her I wanted to hear that the person who hurt me regretted it. She just kept asking me what would change for me if I heard those words. I felt like if I heard that, I would feel like I could release the anger and hurt. Because after all, then I would come out on top. Right?

So freaking true. via

Maybe it's the competitor in me. I need to feel like I won. I think to some extent, we all want to know that when someone hurts us, they later realize how wrong they were. We just want to hear, "I'm sorry". Yet if we hold on to the anger, the mean girls get to go about their lives while we just wallow.

And that's the thing about mean girls. They don't know they are mean. Or if they do, they don't care because...well, they're mean!

As I'm getting older, I'm realizing that I can't hold other people up to the standards I've set for myself. I can't assume that others are going to be considerate and actually care about my feelings. I am also realizing that if I don't get rid of some of my hurt, I can't let new people into my life who will actually be positive forces for me.

Exactly. via

I know I'm so lucky to have my husband and to have narrowed down my friendships to people who truly matter to me and who truly care about me. Yet there is still a part of me that is hurt from past friendships. I don't need them in my life, yet for some reason I feel like I need the closure.

How do you let go of hurt and anger? How do you let/make yourself move on?

You Might Be Surprised to Know...

Sandra from The Beat of My Heart tagged me today to write a post about things you might be surprised to know about me. Sandra is a really sweet Texas girl I've gotten to know through her blog. Go check her out!

So now for the reason you all came to this post in the first place...

You might be surprised to know...(or you might not be so surprised since many of you know me really well and/or are my family!)

1.) I am an introvert/homebody despite the fact that I was crowned "most talkative" in high school. (Shout out to my friend Chris who won it for the boys in our class...funny that we live on the same street as adults and are such good friends!)

2.)  One of my cousins from Mexico is the star of the movie El Mariachi.

Cousin Carlos... via

3.) I turned down my husband for dates several times and he almost gave up on me.

One of our first dates where he took me to the sculpture park

4.) My extended family is like the United Nations. We have lots of different ethnicities: Mexican, Italian, Dominican, French, Spanish, Scottish, Colombian, Filipino, Irish, and many others I'm not thinking of right now. Just in the picture below of my immediate family (minus my brother in law who is Mexican), we have Mexican, Italian, French, Spanish, Scottish, Colombian, and Dominican.

My parents, my sister, LoLo, my brother, and me

5.) I hate being the new person in a job. I think I'm finally turning the corner at my job now that I'm not so new. Finally!!

6.) I was the 12th member of my family to attend the University of Vermont. My grandparents met there, my parents met there...me and LoLo didn't meet there, but I worked for the University when we met!

via

7.) I've only been to 3 countries besides the US: Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Canada.

8.) My parents chose my name because it was short to go with my long last name.

And I think that might be all for now. So thank you for tagging me, Sandra! This was fun!

Now I am tagging:

My sister Emily from Oh Hello, Love
Katie from Priceless Adventure
Tiffany from The Coffeehouse
Lacey from Lacey in the City
Karla from Always Kiss Me Goodnight

The Outdoors

I have never really liked the outdoors. I hate camping and used to dread when my girl scout troop would go. I hate hiking. I used to get so excited when it was raining out because that meant we could have indoor recess. The one exception is the beach. I love going to the beach and being in the sun. Other than that, I could stay inside for pretty much the rest of my life.

Ok I'm exaggerating a little, but seriously. I never understood the excitement around sleeping outside in a tent with bugs and animals around, no running water, and no comfy bed. Now that we are all blog BFFs, I'm sure you will understand why I hate camping.

My nightmare sleeping situation. via

You all know how particular I am about getting my proper sleep. This doesn't happen when I'm worried about bears coming to snack on me. I'm also not the type of person who can fall asleep anywhere. I need a comfortable bed and I prefer some type of sound (like a fan or a radio) to help me sleep. And no, nature sounds do not count. The sound of crickets reminds me that there are bugs in my sleeping area and therefore, I won't sleep.

I'm also a bit of a snob when it comes to showering. I need to shower. The thought of an entire weekend without a shower gives me serious anxiety. And when I say I need to shower, I don't mean taking a dip in a lake and using a little soap. I mean water coming down on me from a shower head and going down a drain. I really don't like sitting in/standing in dirty water. It kind of defeats the purpose for me.

This is more my style. via

Oh and cooking on a campfire? Sounds like a nightmare to me. I don't cook when I have all the tools, equipment, and appliances available to me. Why would I cook without them?

In high school my friends and I used to go to LL Bean (the flagship store is about 20 minutes from where I grew up) and sit in the tent displays inside the store and play card games and board games while eating snacks we brought. Otherwise, you really wouldn't catch me in a tent.  

LoLo really wants to go camping sometime. The closest thing to camping I could do would be a road trip where we drive somewhere fun and stop at hotels and fun sites along the way. No sleeping outdoors or animal encounters.  But LoLo says no to road trips. He hates spending that much time in the car. In fact, his exact words were "I don't do road trips like you don't do camping." I guess he really doesn't do road trips.

Anyone want to take a cute Dominican boy who can cook and tell really funny stories camping sometime?

Pleeeeeeeeeeeease take me camping!

And I mean really, who wouldn't want to take that cutie camping??

Did you miss me??

I'm back! (Did you notice I was gone? You can be honest...)

I spent the last week in Houston, TX at a conference on international education. I will spare you the boring details, but let me just say I had a really good time and it was a great way to get to know my new co-workers. That tends to happen when you spend between the hours of 9am and 11pm (sometimes later) together for 5 days straight.

So here's a quick recap of what happened over the week.

First of all, I was upgraded to an amazing hotel. I got a penthouse suite that included a living room, a bedroom, a huge bathroom with a shower about as big as my bathroom here at home, all with at least 20 foot ceilings.

Yes that is a bathtub in the living room. For all those times you need a bath while watching tv.

1. Ceiling of my bedroom 2. Door knocker 3. Inside the Elevator 4. Texas Towel Hooks

Throughout the week, I ran around downtown Houston taking pictures of the area so I could show you all (and LoLo) what it was like.

This was at 7 pm. 

Guess they need a new Jefe...

My final adventure in Houston was getting to the airport security line and realizing I was standing behind the entire Valencia soccer team from the professional league in Spain. That was exciting, but what was even more exciting was that when I got to my gate, I realized they were all on my flight too. I sat down and next to me was an older man who seemed like one of the coaches doing a crossword puzzle with this cute player. Once they figured out I understood Spanish, they were smiling and talking to me. Turns out, the cute player is the team's goalie, Vicente Guaita Panadero, and is actually pretty good.

He looked better in person...via

And even though the scenery on the flight was excellent, I couldn't stop thinking about getting home to my two favorite boys: Bronx and LoLo.

I love this face!!

Lazy little man on a rainy day

Ready for the rain!

So I thank you, Houston, for a wonderful week full of laughs and yummy food, drinks, and soccer players. You were a fun escape from rainy Maine (seriously, Maine, get your act together).