There are horses here? Derby 2012

In honor of this post being dedicated to the Derby, the ultimate sh*t show (at least if you're in the in field), my post is going to reflect that vibe...

Friday - infinity wine tastings - best crab cakes - $6 bottle to cover everything - lunges to 4th st - dude threatening to pee in a bottle - making it to the VIP section for the last OAR song - "where's circle bar?" - shots and chasers to fix a fight - dashing past to not pay cover - dancing with twins - "that was a dueling piano bar??" - getting in what I thought was a cab, but wasn't - making the guys get in it instead - rain - forgotten burrito - Saturday - fancy dresses with sombreros - pulled pork sandwich cures hangover - a malt probably wasn't the best idea - pregaming in parking lot with other Ohioans - bottle of vanilla vodka - I'm sorry, Jesus praisers, probably not the most receptive crowd - sneaking in beer cans in chip bags - "sombreeeeroooo!" working twice - not knowing how to bet: "uh... 15 on the house... 14 on... the run...?" - finding friends in dance crowd - losing Sally - losing Kelly - "where did this mint julep come from?" - disoriented - Kelly finds us somehow - cat nap...somewhere - waking in time for the derby race - eating other people's chips and invading their tent - seeing horses for a whole 2 seconds - someone yelling "15" and me getting excited. I didn't win. - if I'd read the horses names I would have won ("I'll Have Another") - beer cans everywhere - throwing glasses, me not catching them - reunion - bar food for dinner - hydration - slapping Chad's sunburn - lost my favorite Yelp glasses - hearing Bieber on the guitar - crashing - Sunday - kids' channel mystery show - french toast and bacon for breakfast - drive home - beautiful day - Fountain Square and Neon's.

I'm marking the Derby off of my bucket list. ...whether I would go again...tbd.
Oh and my friends made it on the centerfold of the Sunday papers as the prime example of what the In Field experience is. *proud*

Asheville aka Chocolate Haven

Chocolate, art, nature, good food, hippies... my recipe for a perfect little town. Good Friday weekend Peter, Jackie, Mattan, dog, and I headed to Asheville (it was nice and cozy in the backseat). 

The boys had made sexist statements about us girls not being able to be ready by 8am to head out, so there was no doubt in my mind that I would prove them wrong. Until I made some poor life decisions the night before and woke up at 7:25am with my head spinning. In 15 minutes, I did the following (in no particular order, some overlapping, some multiple times because I'd forget something): packed clothes (an overstatement), got dressed, packed food (also an overstatement... when I later looked into what I had packed, it consisted of spinach leaves, mayo & ketchup, tortillas, prosciutto, nutella, and alcohol), brushed my teeth (I think), and headed out. Got to Peter & Jackie's at 7:58am. Bam. I then passed out in their car.

(I woke up to a text message of Robbie being back in town! Best news ever :)) We made a pit stop at Cumberland Falls in KY, famous for its moonbeam which only occurs at full moons on 2 places on Earth (here and in Korea somewhere). Of course it wasn't night, so no moonbeam, but there WAS a double rainbow! Also... the place was kinda a tourist trap and overrated, all fenced in.

 Another pit stop in Jellico, TN -- home of the best t-shirts in the world. Picked up 5 requested shirts for friends back in the Cincy and on we went again.

We get to our cabin around 4 (the same one my CS friends have stayed in multiple times!) and search Yelp for a good local eatery... White Duck Tacos. Holy mother of tacos... these were spectacular! Very eclectic delicious combinations of ingredients. I had the Bangkok Shrimp taco and BBQ pulled pork taco. If you're ever in Asheville, def go here.

It happened to be Asheville's Art Walk Friday, so we headed downtown and perused a buncha galleries that all offered alcohol and cheeses. My favorite was Za-Pow, a comic book shop-like gallery that also offered free beer. 

During our art walk is where I discovered that Asheville is all about chocolate and will therefore, be one of my favorite places on Earth. I literally found 4 chocolate shops in just the downtown area (and, duh, yeah I got chocolate in all of them...). I bet there were more. Another cool find? A coffee shop in a double decker bus! We also helped "birth" 2 guys through a wall... long story.

After an excellent breakfast at Sunny Point Cafe (french toast chala bread with chocolate, berries, and maple scented whipped cream), went hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains day. Yes. I said hiking. Friends, for those of you who know me well (or at all, really), know that I'm not quite the active type ("why walk when you can drive?"), but I will let you know that I really enjoyed hiking. Who knew? And not even that winded *high five me*! 2 miles up to the highest peak east of the Mississippi river, 2 miles down. 

After Pete's adventures of longboarding down the mountain (and us following him in the car), we got some good ol' bbq at Ruby's (with like SEVEN different types of bbq sauce!), hit up a toy store (Mattan's got some hula hoop hip action), then met up with Mariel and her friend! Ate spicy chocolate ice cream at Hop's, got drinks at the Universal Junction, and ended up playing the alphabet game back at home.

  

So before we headed out on Sunday, I decided to capture the quirky essence of our cabin. See, little tidbit on our cabin: def has the cabin-feel, big garden, and is decorated with... lotsa oddities. I'm not sure who decorated this place, but I kinda want to meet them. Checked out the arts district before leaving Asheville... and of course made the obligatory stop at Sonic for a chocolate malt on the way home...

2 Weddings and a SXSW

So you know when you're at that age where all your friends are getting married? Yeah. I'm right there. Thankfully, a few of my friends from Texas decided to get married the same weekend (different days) and when SXSW was happening just to accommodate my travels. Or so I'd like to believe ;)

Flew into Houston Friday right after a presentation at work, got picked up by my high school besties Kristy and Clare, in time to make it to the rehearsal of our wonderful friend Emily and Max in Galveston. This church was built in the 1840's (that's OLD for TEXAS) and is actually considered a "museum" now. Very neat place, with rickety old stairs that I foresaw my possible plummet to death on. After the rehearsal, to the best Mexican place in Galveston for dinner!

Kristy, Clare, and I stayed at the Springhill Marriott Suites, which, to our hopes, had a hot tub! Travel tip: always, ALWAYS, pack your swimsuit no matter where you go. The night ended with hot tub, wine, running into some of the groom's party, and good conversation (wine always leads to good conversation, doesn't it?). 

Saturday was the big day. We were treated to a brunch, then off to the Manor to get the bride and her party ready! Again, another beautiful old place. Emily and a few others got styled by this new age hippie stylist woman, the rest of us had the luxury of Rizzy knowing her way with our hair. Oh! Forgot to mention, this was a SCOTTISH themed wedding, so groomsmen in kilts and us ladies got some authentic Texas tartan sashes! While I know you're thinking "in 20 years you're going to look back to these pictures and realize how ridiculous you looked", this was actually neat! Aaaand I will bet it'll still be awesome 20 years from now.

I couldn't have been happier to see these 2 get married. Everything was beautiful with a very tongue-in-cheek twist to it (the whole Scottish theme complete with bagpiper, Beatles vows, the "museum", etc.) Exactly what fits these 2. The reception was a hoot too -- Texas BBQ, open bar, galore of "guncles" and other fun fun people. 

After the reception, us bridal party peeps drunkenly decorated the honeymoon car. And then ended up back in the hot tub. With more wine. Until we got kicked out. So we took it to the hotel room and played Cards Against Humanity (best game EVER!).

Sunday we drove back to Austin in time for me to make it to Wedding #2: Sean and Elia. More awesome people getting married. While it had been pouring the last few days, it cleared up to blue skies and perfect weather just for them (and good thing too, since the wedding was outside). More beautifulness. Followed by another funtastic reception with so much dancing. And good friends. Great to see them again :) And a margarita machine! Sigh.

Weddings, check. Now on to SXSW. For the first time, I experienced the "free SXSW method". Granted, takes a lot of waiting in lines for wristbands, but it's all sooo worth it. Free music, free food, free drink. And all day every day. Oh and I saw my friend's band The Pinstripes from Cincinnati! More friends, more catching up. This was my schedule from Monday to Wednesday.

Thursday was my flight and I "worked from home" during the day. Getting up at 7am? Tough. Very tough. Got to get lunch with my mom before heading to the airport. Getting home at midnight and work the next day? Also very tough. In fact, the moment I got on the plane, I felt like absolute crap. My body had the shakes, but my face was red hot. I left work early the next day and spent 8 hours on my couch before transferring to my bed. Then I got these weird bumps on my fingers... they spread to the rest of my hand. Then on my feet! Then to the rest of my body...

...So apparently my body was going through alcohol withdrawal. How. sad. is. that. I realized I pretty much drank straight from Friday to Wednesday... apparently that's how fast dependency can happen? Wow. Which led to my body being dehydrated and developing a heat rash. Needless to say, I took good care of my body that weekend and spent all of it recovering. Moral of the story? Take good care of your body, children.

#2 Mardi Gras feast in the USA

....iiiiiis St. Louis, Missouri! Who knew? I def didn't... until I visited there last year -- so a mission to come back for Mardi Gras was in cahoots.

Kelly and I left Cincy around 5, hit some traffic, but finally made it into Soulard (the prime spot for Mardi Gras shenanigans) close to midnight. We stayed with fantastic couchsurfers (as always!), Nate and Kim, who graciously let us crash with them even though they invited friends from out of town too and held their own MG party the next day. They just moved to St Louis so this was their first Mardi Gras there... they weren't quite sure what to expect but were prepared fo' sho'.

Prepared? 175-jello-shots-and-a-keg prepared! We pretty much lucked the hell out and stayed with the best hosts in St Louis that weekend :) Super fun people and great friends. So the day started at 9am... with shots. and then beer. and then jello shots. and then beer. and more beer. There was a parade in there somewhere too that we saw, but nothing all too memorable except for the Back to the Future float. There were beads everywhere (surprisingly, not many boobs... I saw one side boob). Streets were filled with beer vendors and the masses. Bars closed at 10pm b/c they knew what was good for them. Dance parties with awesome laser lights back at the house. 15 hours of drinking, people. I'm not sure if my liver had ever met its match at that level...

...but thankfully it forgave me the next morning. No hangover (what WHAT! "Liquor before beer..."). Grabbed brunch at Sqwires with our amazing hosts and then parted our ways. Headed to the Arch, which Kelly had not been to yet, took the 60's capsule ride to the top of it and got our touristyness in at the museum. Kelly had seen a St Louis episode of Man vs Food of this delish ice cream place that makes shakes and malts. Made it our mission to be the last stop, but fate was they closed doors right in front of us... :( Next time. As reconciliation, we got Wendy's Frosties on the drive home... same thing, right?

 Another fun weekend trip. I'm a fan of these. Let's do more! (Asheville for Easter weekend???)


OH! And I finally gave in to the pressures of the 21st century and got myself a smartphone, whiiiiich of course has an awesome camera in it. So my posts will hopefully become more colorful(/interesting) again :) ...I'm not allowed to lose this one though...
 

Getting my ski and brewstel fix

Since we really haven't had any white stuff to remind me that it's been winter, I almost forgot to get my ski on. Snowshoe had been in the talks because my friend Kimmy's brother opened up a hostel not far from there, so end of January we headed there!


We leave Friday afternoon and make our 6 hr trek to Elkins, WV. Being in the company of ridiculous people always leads to ridiculous times. With the help of RaulRaul (the Spanish TomTom), we got to the brewstel (brewery/hostel -- best combo ever?) close to midnight. A night of havoc ensued with all intent to wake up at a decent hour for skiing the next morning...


...yeah notsomuch. Andrew, being a morning person, gave us the best wake up by bringing us coffee and scones. After a slow morning, a hangover breakfast at a local diner where I downed greasy bacon strips, drove to Snowshoe, got our skis (the salesperson was from Cincy), we were on the slopes at... 2.


A rough start, but we made the most of it. While it had been sunny and dry in Elkins (and the rest of the country pretty much), we got snow that day at Snowshoe. Skied one side of the mountain til it closed at 5, rejuvenated (slowly) with food and drink, and then headed to the other side for night skiing til 9. For a good snowfall, the slopes weren't too busy, and the lines weren't too long :)


Exhausted as all hell, I did not think any shenanigans would take place, but we still ended staying up late (apparently I passed out for an hour in between... which I don't really remember...)


The brewstel itself is quite fantastic. It just had its official opening, so if you're ever in the area, def check it out (shameless plug). With a rustic feel, it's run by a swell group of guys, and has the best showers any hostel could ever offer you :P. And if you're really lucky, Andrew will make you homemade breakfast burritos in the morning!


On the way there, I had made the plea to stop at a Sonic if we saw one because going to WV is the only time I've encountered one while living in Cincy. On the way back, we took a mini detour to stop at one. One chocolate malt later and my weekend was perfectly complete.

Lessons from Pittsburgh

A month or so ago Megabus was having this awesome promotion of giving away free tickets. So on another spontaneous trip decision (I like these), Sally and I got ourselves tickets to Pittsburgh for MLK weekend -- ended up not being free, but close enough.


Poor Sally. She was in Oklahoma City for work during the week and was going to fly into Cincy on Friday in time to catch our bus to the 'burgh. After many many delayed flights, and finally convincing the airlines to get her a ticket straight to Pittsburgh (b/c she'd be too late for the bus), she ended up coming in at 10pm. She spent the whole day at airports. Awesome.

So anywho. I had made it, another awesome couchsurfer had picked me up, and then we got Sally. Adam was a savior. Not only did he respond to our last minute request, he MADE Pittsburgh the awesomeness that it is for us. Here's what we learned while we were there:

• The correct way of saying Carnegie. It's CarnEgie, bitchez.
• That the Science Center is the funnest place no matter what age you are
• 16 degrees is cold. And windchills don't help. And thank god for someone willing to drive us around
• There's 3 rivers, but really it's TWO rivers... and they become the Ohio River. And they're different colors.
• Batman sometimes lives there
• Pittsburgh is like Cincy, but bigger
• You can be crazy and own a farm and make 60 types of jams. And be missing the top of your middle finger
• Said crazy person can also know everything about the crow migration
• It will take you an average of 30 min to shop for the perfect winter hat in the Strip District
• Not all Cathedrals are for praying. Some are for Learning. And have crazy culture rooms.
• Beer is popular here. And everyone knows their beer.
• Scientific proof that Sally and I are in fact Yellow.
• There are many variations of Holly, like Skydiver Holly, Rafting Holly, Safari Holly, and Asian Holly
• It's cool and fun to mix random ingredients into your waffles and ice cream (Oh Yeah!)
• Apparently there's no steel business left in Pittsburgh
• Lightning Reaction is both the funnest and scariest game ever
• No matter how many times I try, I can't do coffee

Ok, so maybe this seems random and doesn't make sense to you guys, but in time, you will understand if you visit Pittsburgh. or if you ask me why. Fun fun times. Fun fun people.

I'ma visit you when it's warm some time...

Good bye, camera #3...

I should never be allowed to own a camera anymore. I just can't keep a long lasting relationship with one. #1 was stolen in Brazil. #2 was stolen in New Orleans. #3... well, it was either stolen in Paris or I lost it. I want to claim it being stolen because that fits nicely with the theme. So alas, this post might be a harder read since there are no pictures to distract you with ;)


So 2.5 weeks in Europe. An excellent mix of family, friends, shenanigans, and culture. Let me begin...


12/22-12/28 Den Haag
Fam time! Saw my mom, got to see my sister and brother and nieces, the whole caboodle. My almost-10 year old niece left me a note at the computer that said: "Dear aunt nadia, i miss you a lot now already. until whenever. xxx Aline." That's right. My heart melted.
This was also Stuff-your-face-with-Dutch-and-Indonesian-food time! I ate. so much. Pannekoeken, loempia, bapao, rendang, the list goes on.


12/26+12/28 Utrecht
My friend Bas lives in Utrecht. Coincidentally, Jennifer was in Holland the same time and invited me to an 80s party in Utrecht on the 26th, so we all went. Thing I learned that night? I do not know my 80's dutch songs. Danced the night away anyway. The 3 of us were taking the bus to Paris on the 29th from Utrecht, so night in before with help from the Beer Ambulance (that's right... amazing concept... they come deliver alcohol TO YOU!) 


12/29-01/02 Paris
With all the cliches, I thought it was going to be too hyped up. WRONG. I still freakin' fell in love with this city! First time in Paris and it was everything people had told me it would be (except I didn't get the run in with American-hating Parisians). First thing we did: drank some beers in the gardens of the Louvre watching the African street vendors selling mini replicas of Eiffel towers being chased by police on rollerblades.


We stayed with an awesome couchsurfer right smack in the 1e arrondissement. 5 of us stayed in this adorable studio with a loft and kept cozy. Again, I ate a lot. Pretty much stopped at every crepes stand I passed. 


We did all (well almost all) things touristy: the Louvre, Centre Pompidou, Grand Palais, Eiffel tower, walked around...everywhere. We walked a lot. I think I also sat for like half an hour in the Louvre b/c I was tired of walking. All spectacular. Sadly did not go to the Catacombes because they closed early the day we went.


OH! I failed to mention of all the wonderful people who were also coincidentally there. First off, my 3-week roommie Kim was visiting her boyfriend, and my friend Mohamed was there with his friends as well! With a lot of coordination skillz, we all got to hang out a good bit :) For New Year's Eve, we headed to the Champs Elysees. While we heard that there'd be no fireworks and no alcohol past 8pm, we made sure to stock up on bottles at the grocery store before hand. That's the night my camera disappeared... No comment.


01/02-01/05 Vienna
Bas and Jennifer left the night before and went back to Holland and I met up with Emilie in Vienna. When I got there, I discovered that Venetians do not like Germans. or lost backpackers asking for directions. interesting.


I was exhausted from planning the daily activities, so I gave Emilie the go-ahead in planning and said I would just follow her wherever she went. We saw a lot of museums, a lot of neat architecture, and a lot of fancy coffee shops :) Definitely a culture trip. Even saw an orchestra performance in a church and an operette in the Opera. Look who's got class :P Also met up with my stepbrother who joined us in a day of wandering around the city.


01/05-01/07 Prague
Ah Prague... its architecture is just as beautiful as Vienna, but it's almost more... common and less uppity. Confused citizens were eager to help us with directions even if they didn't know the way. While they definitely come off more stoic, they are quick to open up.

More walking in this city (surprised?). Neat cobblestone ways and more good food (reoccuring theme?). We spend a day perusing Old Town and a day at the Palace and surrounding areas. See some awesome street musicians (NO idea what they were singing, but great nonetheless).


01/07-01/08 Amsterdam
Flew back for my last night in Amsterdam before flying back to the US the next day. My awesome friend Nic delayed his flight a couple of days to hang out with me and also met up with Koen who I hadn't seen since Brazil :) Hit up a couple of bars at the Leidseplein and finally called it a night...

01/09 Back at work in Cincy
Time for some exciting changes, 2012! :D

Next weekend was MLK weekend in Pittsburgh... but that's another post.