Austin, Texas

Keepin’ Austin Weird

So, that’s the motto of the town where we spent Tracie’s bachelorette weekend. And we did see some weird things!!

Most of us arrived on Thursday night. Tracie, Shannon, Jen and Pam arrived Thursday afternoon and we lucky enough to see Vince Young at Fox & Hound while watching the Texas game. The rest of us unfortunately arrived too late! The bar pretty much cleared out after Texas won, I reckon because it was Thursday night. Then we ended up going to this really random dance club, where a 60 year old guy was bustin’ a move on the dance floor like nobody’ business. He pretty much cleared the dance floor it was so scary!!

Friday, we got up and had an overpriced breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Then, we headed out for S. Congress Street to do some shopping. It was some boutiques and a lot of vintage shops. I bought a cool leather wrist band with a green star in it. It’s pretty cool if I do say so myself! Then, we headed to the Hula Hut, which is a restaurant on the river, recommended by more than one source. We didn’t end up eating until 3:00, but we were all very hungry, so we ate pretty well. After that, it was time to head back to the hotel to get ready for dinner (Eating again already?!?!) We headed out to Z Tejas, which had excellent Tex-Mex cuisine, including the Wild Mushroom enchiladas that I ordered. The only mishap was Laura’s steak which had to be sent back three times to be cooked to medium, thank goodness it was camped without even asking!!

After dinner, we headed out to 6th Street, where all the college bars are located. The street was even closed off!! We started at the Logan Lounge, which was kind of quiet when we got there, but it got pretty crowded when we left. Then, we headed to the Chugging’ Monkey (based on a recommendation from the waitress), which was kind of a dive bar, but they were playing good music and we got to see the last second shot that sent the Upon game into overtime. (The whole bar went crazy!!) Then, we headed to the Dizzy Rooster (made famous by the Real World.), which was fun and very loud and crowded. Tracie did a little dancing on the bar. Laura, Shannon, Stacy and I headed over to another bar because it was just too loud in there. We met some guy who claimed to be a Michigan State cheerleader, but he wasn’t gay. He was just a little bit strange, so we ditched him! Stacy and I ended up going home after that because we were exhausted!!

When we got back to the hotel, our key didn’t work because it had been deactivated, so we had to call Laura and Shannon to make sure they could get in! What a fiasco! So, then everyone else came back and had a little party in our room and ordered pizza, so I didn’t get to sleep as early as I would have liked, but oh well! I did get to sleep in on Saturday.

Saturday, we headed over to the University of Texas for a tour of the Tower. We went to this place called Which Witch for lunch and it was really good!! J I was like a cross between Wa-wa and Potbelly’s. Yummy! We did the tour which consisted of them talking to use for about 10 minutes and then standing at the top for about 30 minutes. It was interesting to see, though, and it was a beautiful day out!!! Most everyone went back to the hotel to go to the pool, but Shannon and I set off on a mission to find a tiara or something for Tracie to wear. We found the perfect princess outfit at Toy Joy, a toy store (for children!!) complete with a sparkly tutu, a wand, a beaded tiara and wings!! It was a successful shopping trip.

Before dinner, we opened presents and played a game where Jen and Pam had called Matt (Tracie’s fiancé) to ask 10 questions and Tracie had to guess what his answers were. The best answer was to the question “What is Tracie’s most annoying habit?” And Matt said “Her intense obsession with Ohio State football. And she didn’t even go to school there.” That was pretty funny! For dinner, we headed to The Roaring Fork, which was EXCELLENT! I had a great salad and fabulous pork tenderloin. Everyone was very satisfied with their meal. We didn’t get to the bars until around 11, which was a late start!! We went to the Warehouse District, which is more where the people our age hang out. We started out the Logan Lounge, where we had two impromptu risqué dances, one from an attractive guy and one from a very overweight guy, which was so odd!!! And then we had a guy who just wanted someone to do the Rumba with him. We volunteered Tracie, and he got all upset when she stopped after about 60 seconds. Where did these people come from? That was like WAY weird (They are definitely living up to the motto!!) We then headed to a couple of other bars and ended up on 6th Street again. All in all, a fun evening!!

The worst part of the whole trip was the inability to find a cab on Saturday night. It was pretty ridiculous! 4 of us hung back from the group and we ended up taking one of those rickshaw things halfway and then walking the rest of the way. Everyone else walked back, the entire 45 minutes! That was really annoying!!!! The rickshaw guy would have taken us further, but there was no way he would be able to peddle the four of us up the hill to get to the hotel!!

I was in the first group to leave around 9:45 on Sunday morning, but I had a great time in Austin (minus the lack of cabs!!), but most of all I think Tracie had a blast, which was the whole point, right?

Atlantic City (Belated)

So, I got yelled at by Shannon and Tracie this weekend that I didn’t do a blog entry about their trip to Philly, so here it is about a month late!

Shannon, Tracie and Matt arrived on Friday evening and we went to Cuba Libre for dinner. It’s a fabulous restaurant where you feel like you are actually in Cuba! (Despite the fact that is was like 20 degrees outside.) We had to wait for a while, which was kind of frustrating, but we did get a free round of drinks out it, so that was good! After dinner, we went home and watched some basketball and had some drinks.

Saturday, Matt and Brad went to Tony Luke’s for a roast pork sandwich. Brad is obsessed with those, so the girls headed down to Delaware to do some tax-free shopping! It was a successful trip, as I found a cute new outfit for the Atlantic City!

I made a Mexican casserole, guacamole and black beans and rice for dinner. Yummy!! Fanning came over around 8:15 and our limo arrived at 9 to pick us up and take us down to Atlantic City. The limo driver was a little slow, I was kind of worried about getting down there, but we made it in just over an hour. He was FLYING! I am just glad he didn’t get pulled over. The limo ride was fun, between the six of us, we drank almost a case of beer. (Mostly Fanning because he was trying to catch up I think.) We first went to the Borgata, which is the newest hotel in Atlantic City and the most like a Vegas hotel. They have Chalilu glass in the lobby, and it is absolutely beautiful!! We headed to the Gypsy Bar, where a really cool live Band, the Little Romeos was playing. (Although the lead singer was not so little.) We were dancing and having a great time. It was a mixed crowd, but fun! Then, we headed over to the Quarter in the Tropicana.

However, it took us a while to get a hold of the limo guy. He gave us the wrong number, or we typed in the wrong number, so we ended up calling the limo company who then called him. I think we kind of got him in trouble, but it was all good! The Tropicana is our second favorite hotel in Atlantic City. The Quarter is really cool! They are all sorts of restaurants and cool shops. The guys ended up going to find a black jack table, even though they said they didn’t want to gamble (But I knew once they got there, that would be the end of that!!) So, they ended up playing for about an hour or so. Brad lost, Matt won a little, and Fanning won about $75. While they were playing, Tracie was half asleep in a chair and Shannon and I went on a search for a bar.

We ended up having to pay the limo driver for an extra hour, which was ok. It was worth it! We all fell asleep in the car on the way home, but only after eating almost all the small bags of chips that were in there!!!

It was a fun trip to Atlantic City, and I would definitely do it again. The limo is definitely the way to go!!!

Visit to Duke

This weekend, we went down to Duke for Brad to attend an informational session about the cross-continent MBA program to which he applied. We flew out bright and early on Saturday morning and arrived in Raleigh-Durham around 9:00. It was a bright, sunny day, but there was a chill in the air. We didn’t do much research about how to get to Duke or where to go, but we found our way to a place where got a map and did our own tour of campus! It is a very beautiful campus that reminds me a lot of Princeton because most of the buildings are white stone and look very old. Spring has definitely sprung down there. The dogwoods were absolutely GORGEOUS! (I would post a picture here, but I forgot to take the camera. DOH!)

We walked over to the Fuqua School of Business, which is where Brad will be spending most, if not all, of his time when he is attending the school. It is a HUGE complex, with a large building with classrooms and offices, and then a separate building with a hotel and executive campus for the executive students. It’s a very nice facility and I am glad I got to see it so I could imagine Brad there if he ends up going there! All the athletic fields are across from the business school, so we went over and checked out the baseball field and the football field. And we saw the outside of the basketball arena…..we didn’t figure it would be open with March Madness and all.

We then went and checked into the hotel and figured out where we should go to catch some basketball games. Duke was playing in the early game, so we were hoping to go somewhere to watch the game around the campus, but we couldn’t really find anywhere. Plus, the students were still on Spring Break, so it was pretty dead! We ended up going to Chapel Hill (where UNC is), which is only about 20 minutes away! (Who knew they were so close to each other!!) We found a sports bar and watched the Duke game. And all the people in the bar were of course cheering against them!!

We went back and took a nap and then headed out for a yummy seafood dinner at a place called George’s Garage. (It was a lot nicer than it sounds!) Since Brad was still recovering from the flu, we decided it probably wasn’t the best idea to party like we were in college again, so we went back to the hotel and watched some more basketball!

Sunday, we got up and went to the Shoney’s breakfast bar (right next to the hotel!) It was YUMMY! I haven’t had Shoney’s in a long time. They have the best French toast sticks and buttermilk biscuits. Then, we headed back to UNC to walk around campus. They have some really beautiful sorority houses! Then we ended up going back to the same bar to watch basketball and then headed back to the hotel so I could catch a cab to the airport and Brad could get ready for his info session.

I was the last stand-by person to get on the earlier flight, thank goodness!! It was nice to get home at 6:30 rather than 10!!!

We shall see Brad’s impression after today. The program is primarily on-line learning, and then there are 8 weeks of on campus learning. 6 of those sessions are at Duke, 1 is in Europe and 1 is in Asia. He is very excited about this program, and he should hear in the next couple of weeks! So, keep your fingers crossed.

Grey's Anatomy

Grey's Anatomy is like my all-time favorite show, so I just wanted to write one blog entry about it. If you haven't checked it out, it comes on at 10 PM Eastern time on Sunday. (It's after the Sopranos, thank goodness!!)

The episode started with George cutting his hair in the bathroom of Burke's apartment with a tiny pair of scissors. The end result was something like "looked like a Hobbitt" (in Alex's words.) Flash to Burke and George returning from a 5 mile run, and then making pancakes. It was hysterical to watch George trying to jump up to the third shelf to get the pancake mix and then Burke throwing him 3 eggs, with Cristina watching on in disbelief!! And at the end, George and Burke were playing in a "band" together. Burke on the trumpet and George on the clarinet. It was a classic moment for sure!!!

Addison was completely ecstatic to have a male notice her for "30 minutes straight." However, it was the husband of her pregnant patient! And after the baby was born, he didn't even look up to acknowledge her.

As Izzie was presenting Denny's case in rounds, Alex volunteered to stay and monitor his progress as well. And the first chance he got when Izzie was not around, he made sure to let Denny know that he and Izzie were "together." (However, I don't think they are together, they are just have relations in the on-call room every once in a while.) Izzie made sure to let Alex know that she didn't appreciate his getting involved, especially since we all know (especially Alex) that Izzie is falling hard for Denny. Alex pointed out to Izzie that it's dangerous to get so emotionally involved with a patient, which I am sure she knows. But you can't deny the chemistry between the two of them. They were playing Scrabble and Izzie played the word "screw." To which Denny responded "I didn't know we were playing dirty word scrabble." And Izzie responded with "I meant the hardware." Sure, she did! She convinced him to have surgery to help his heart beat because "We need more time," Even though it means that Denny will quite possibly never be able to leave the hospital again. Poor Izzie, she is getting herself into quite a predicament, just setting herself up for total heartbreak.

And on the Meredith and Derek front, they are still trying their "friendship," although I was skeptical at first. Pretty much all they talked about this episode was this horrible, awful thing she did and how her friends are so mad at her and she doesn't know what to do about it. (My question is how does Derek not know that she slept with George? Seriously, I mean, this hospital is more gossipy than Beverly Hills 90210, how could he have escaped knowing? I am sure even the chief knows...maybe not, but you get my point.) At the end of episode, she finally tells him "I slept with George. It was an awful thing to do, and I don't know how to get him to be my friend again." Derek gives her some friendly advice and tells her to tell him She's sorry over and over again. She says she doesn't know how she will get his attention, to which he tells her "Use the elevator, that's what I did." (Hysterical!!) Meredith gives George a fabulous apology speech (in the elevator of course), and George never even looks up at her. I understand that he's made, but as Meredith said "It takes two people to make a bad sexual decision."

And if George never would have done it, then he wouldn't have met Dr Torres. (Which I guess is a good thing, although she doesn't seem to be his type at all.) They were working together on a high school kid whose life is dedicated to hockey. He dislocated his finger (I mean seriously dislocated, like totally crooked), and refused to sit out of the "scouting game." He came back into the hospital after cutting off his finger to play (using instructions he found on the internet) so that he could play in the game. However, because of the bacteria that got into his open wound from his hockey glove, he will most likely never be able to play hockey again. That will teach you a lesson about taking matters into your own hands (literally!)

Bailey brought her baby into the hospital because her husband was out of town until the next day (Seriously. Wouldn't she be worried her newly born baby would get some kind of disease? And don't you think the chief would have made her take the kid back home.) Anyways, Cristina was the lucky winner to baby-sit the little tyke, which was as hysterical as you could imagine! She didn't have any clue what she was doing. However, George did. He came up and took the baby from Cristina and the baby promptly started eating. Burke was amazed and George said "Babies love me. I don't know why." To which Burke said "Speaks of a good bedside manner." (A jab at Cristina, which was pretty funny.)

Derek and Meredith were treating a patient (Natalie Cole, I thought she looked familiar) who had gotten a fork stuck in her neck due to complications from a brain aneurism. She had decided that she didn't want an operation because she was finally happy in her life. Ever since her diagnosis, her husband had finally recognized her and they had a happy marriage and she wanted to keep it that way and move to Paris and savor life. However, Derek convinced her to have the surgery and commit to never settling again. All this banter made Derek realize that he is partially to blame for the state of his marriage to Addison.

The final scene was him telling Addison that he takes part of the blame for "what has happened to our marriage." Mostly because he was absent and not attentive before she and McSteamy And he said he's working on it. (By being friends with Meredith apparently.) Derek was totally jealous when he saw her laughing with the random dude.

......I am totally torn with him and his situation. On one hand, Addison is his wife, but she CHEATED on him (which is pretty much unforgivable in my book) and with his BEST FRIEND (which is even more unforgivable.) But he and Meredith are so fabulous together (even though their relationship kind of started off with not the whole truth. And he was cheating on his wife with her, but they were also separated because Addison was an adulteress.) And Addison is holding on for dear life to a husband who she knows doesn't love her, but instead loves this intern.

I love this show and I can't wait until next week already! J

You know you're from South Jersey if....

So a friend of mine at work e-mailed this to me, and it sums up South Jersey pretty well. (See my commentary in green. There are a lot of strange things about this place!) Enjoy!

You know you're from South Jersey if...

-You don't "go to the beach", you go "down the shore". We are only about an hour from the beach, so that's pretty cool, and there are casinos there!!
-You've had arguments over cheese steak quality. of Jim's, Pat's and Geno's, I've only had Jim's.
- You've actually found the Echelon Mall.
- You or one of your friends have Lyme Disease. Not really sure what this means, but I don't know anyone who has lyme disease.
- You don't understand why there aren't more 24-hour diners elsewhere in the country.
- You know what a Wawa is, and know the location of at least 10 of them. Wawa is like Seven-Eleven only much better and with gas stations. There is a Super Wawa by our house, and it's great!
- You know that you should get the hell out of Camden before dark. Yeah, Camden is where Brad works.
- You know how to successfully navigate a traffic circle. I HATE traffic circles, they just make driving more confusing and ridiculous.
- You say "water" "wudder". So true of people who grew up around here, and it's very odd
- You refuse to call Hoagies "subs."
- You've almost fallen asleep on the parkway, NJ turnpike and I-295
- You've lived through hurricanes, nor'easters, blizzards and fires, but have never seen a tornado, earthquake or volcano. (Well we did have an earthquake once....)
- You know that ACME is an actual store, not just a Warner Bros. creation. It's owned by the same company that owns Jewel, so we have Patricia Heaton on commericals, only she says "Came" instead of "Jewel."
- You have mandatory recycling. Enforced by law.
- You've made a meal out of Tastycakes, Herr's BBQ potato chips, and Taylor Pork Roll. Tastycakes and Herr's BBQ chips are good, but Taylor Pork Roll sounds pretty scary.
- You know New Years is all about the Mummers and the Polar Bear club
- You can go bowling at 1:30 A.M.
- Route 206 doesn't freak you out at night.
- You know that people from the 609 area code are "a little different"
- Your mom still loves Bruce Springsteen.
- You know it can be -10 degrees and 70 degrees in January in the same year.
- There's a fruit and vegetable stand down the road.
- You will always say "YO", and you'll say it often.
- You go to another state and sit at a gas station wondering when the people will come out to pump your gas. Yep, it's illegal to pump your own gas in New Jersey. All gas stations are full service, but the gas is cheaper than anywhere else because of all the refineries close by.
- You know that no matter how much they put into the Camden waterfront , Camden is still Camden.
- You think North Jersey is a different state and South Jersey deserves its own secession.
- You have season passes to Great Adventure.
- You know where Olga's Diner is on rt 70.
- You are tired of people not believing you're from Jersey because you don't have a New York accent. I hope I never get a Jersey accent!!
- You drive by a farm every time you get in the car. (or a former farm!)
- you know what "jimmies" are and refuse to call them anything else. I have no clue what a jimmie is....
- Your neighbor is either a painter, a plumber, a builder, or an electrician with a work truck in the driveway.
- You have crossed all 5 bridges into Philly at one point in your life.
- You have a story about the "Hell Hole" ride in Wildwood.
- You took your report card to Clementon Park for free tickets. Home of the world's oldest wooden roller coaster that is really scary looking.
-You know what funnel cake and water ice are and think something is wrong with people who refer to them as "fried dough" and"slush".
- You've ever driven around aimlessly for hours with your friends saying "So, whatta we doin?"
- You ever drove all the way to the shore just to walk around for 5 minutes then drive back.
- You knew of at least 3 bars where you know they wouldn't card you.
- You lived near a "crick" not a creek.
- You never could figure out which was the Black Horse Pike or The White Horse Pike
- You know that a "Yield" sign is merely a suggestion.
- You don't think you have an accent. Again, I hope I never get a Jersey accent.
- Everything is "twenty minutes away". If you ask how long it takes to get any place in South Jersey, the person always says, "about twenty minutes". To get to a mall, "Oh,about 20 minutes". To get to the airport, "Mmm, about 20minutes." To get from Runnemede to Philly, "Only about 20 minutes". Try it. Only the shore areas take more than "twenty minutes". They're usually "an hour and twenty minutes." ( Well it's true!!!!!!!!!)
- You went to StoryBook Land as a kid.
- Every time someone in Hollywood makes fun of Jersey, you're mad and proud at the same time
- You describe where you live in reference to how far you are from Cherry Hill.
- You would drop everything you were doing and run to the voting polls right now if you heard we were voting to make North and South Jersey separate states.
- You know all of the "back roads" to get everywhere and prefer them to the expressway.