Autumn

Last Tuesday I headed out early on my way to visit my sister in Saratoga Springs, NY.



It's a gorgeous trip up there anyway, but when the leaves are changing, it is just exquisite!



I about died while driving through the Pennsylvania mountains. I'm pretty sure they were peaking last week. WOW!

The next morning Ali and I left at about 8am on our way to to Vermont. Our directions were to Burlington and this ride was just as gorgeous as my one the day before.



At one point in the directions Ali said, "OK...turn right" but as I looked to my right, all I saw was a huge lake!



"WHAT?!" The directions, which we hadn't really looked too closely at, said, "Turn right. Get on ferry." I thought I was going to throw up. The lake is HUGE and I had never driven onto a ferry so I was just a little scared. But we did it and it was fun!




I was scared because we were the last car on to the ferry and were quite close to the edge!



Burlington is awesome. I was there about 15 years ago, but my memories are hazy. I could absolutely live here.




People here were also super nice. Two people stopped to offer us change when we were feeding the parking meter.

We also went to the Magic Hat Brewery in Burlington, VT, which was AWESOME and we got to try about eight beers. I was in heaven.



Then we drove the 35 minutes or so to Montpelier to visit our Aunt Bonnie. I remembered Montpelier much better as I was there for a about a week when I was 15. We had a grand afternoon hanging out with my aunt drinking beer/wine and playing with her huge dogs.




It was chilly there so we actually sat in the sun for most of the day. How refreshing to sit in the sun and not be miserable. Cold weather, FTW!!!



On Thursday, Nathaniel's (my brother-in-law), family came into town to visit as well so much of the next few days was us all drinking beer and going out to eat.






Nathaniel in Saratoga Springs, NY.

I left earrrly Monday morning and while my drive home went well, I was sad to leave. I miss living near my sister. And it's also nice to not work for a week. But mostly, I miss living near Ali. A lot.




XO,
SVR

+ Titled from Smashing Pumpkins

Up All Night

I had a fantastic weekend!

Actually, it's been pretty kick-ass since Wednesday when Ali and I went to the 930 Club to see The Presets. We danced our asses off and I promise to post pics as soon as I can.

Friday night Ali and I went to Richmond because for a school project she had to go somewhere that showed Russian culture. Ali, being the awesome person she is, found a Russian bar and I was more than happy to accompany here there. It took us forever to get down there in the abysmal Friday traffic on 95, but we made it to Sticky Rice before they stopped serving food and didn't even have to wait! I <3 Sticky Rice. I miss living two blocks from it. After dinner we went over to my brother's store, Turnstyle to say hello to him and Jobeth. We had missed art walk, but heard it was really good.

Jobeth warned us that Aurora, the Russian bar, gave her a hard time about dress code before so she and Jesse gave us business cards so we could name drop if we needed to. We were both wearing sneakers and I had jeans on so we were a little worried when we walked up to the door. Luckily, I didn't have to pull the "We're with WRIR" card and we were let in just fine. I saw what Jobeth meant, though, as 90% of the girls there were dressed to the nines. Some were down right trashy. One girl wore an extremely tight white (!!) dress that probably seemed like a good idea, but the execution was a little frightening. There were a lot of shiny dresses and all the girls were either wearing heels or were barefoot because they had taken their heels off*.

We got pictures of us drinking Russian beer and of the crowds for Ali's project and then headed out. We were there awhile and while we didn't get our dance on too much, I would definitely go back. The bartender remembered my first and last name even though I only got one beer. I was impressed.

Saturday I worked and then just headed home because I was tired and no one was really doing anything. I settled in to read some magazines and was watching Baby Mama on HBO** when I heard from Ali that she was considering going back down to Richmond to go to Jesse's party Bliss at the new club, Rendezvous on Broad Street in Richmond. She was going to wait for Nick to get off of work at about 1130pm and then head down there. I'm not sure why, but I agreed to go even though I was already tired and had to work at 9am the next day. My brother throws awesome events and it's good to support family so I went to sleep until Ali called me at about midnight to say she and Nick were on their way. I got there at about 1:40am and Ali and Nick walked in not long after. We had a lot of fun before the event was over at 3am. We danced it up and cheered on Jesse and Jobeth as they took turns spinning.

We had decided last minute that I should drive separately and it's a good thing I did. I left after the club closed and got home at about 445am...just in time for a couple hours of shut eye before I had to get up for work. Nick and Ali ended up hanging out with her friend Tim for a few more hours and got back way later than I did.

Today at work wasn't even as brutal as I expected it to be. I guess having fun brings on a different kind of tired:)

I hope you all had awesome weekends, too. I guess I should hope for you to have as awesome a family as I do since they were key parts of my great times.

XO,
SVR

*I hate that. If you can't keep them on, then don't wear them.
**Horrible. Such a bad movie. I only made it about 30 minutes in. The jokes were obvious and forced.

The Radio's Hot Sun

Ali put blush on me while we drove from Kings Dominion to Richmond. It was a silly moment, but kind of gives you an idea of what our days together are like. We had headed to Kings Dominion early, but the luxury of a season pass combined with ass-hot temperatures led us to leave earlier than we had planned. It was pretty awesome, though, to ride rides for a few hours and not feel like we wasted our money. Those season passes are already paid for and made worth it. Now when we go, it's totally bonus cup time.

So since it was ass-hot, we went to Richmond to hit up American Apparel (I bought a slutty dress and a not so slutty dress), For The Love Of Chocolate (is that the name?) where I bought extreme dark chocolate for my mom and a macaroon for Ali and myself to keep us going until dinner. Then we got margaritas, which hit us harder than we had expected until we remembered we never had real lunch (just breakfast lunch-Sonic serves the full menu all day, suckers). As required, we then went to Sticky Rice for dinner where, as is becoming tradition, we tried to special of the day. Yumsies!

So You Think You Can Dance is super hott tonight. I missed the first two routines, and I'm tired, so I won't be recapping. I will say that I love Chelsie and Katee as well as all of the guys. I think Comfort needs to go because Courtney and Kherington are much better. On the guy's side, I'm afraid Mark will be leaving, which sucks because I like him a lot. In fact, I love all of the guys. Like, a lot.

XO,
SVR

The Sleep

Man has this past week been tiring. Starting with last Thursday I feel like I've just been trying to catch up on rest and relaxation when I can.

I was out late Thursday and then worked until midnight on Friday. Saturday I got up after just a few hours of sleep to take my parents to the airport. I had two naps that day before it was even 9am! I slept on the way to the airport and then passed out for an hour before work at my sister's apartment. Work that day was a blur.

Despite my tiredness, there were parties to attend. Ali and I headed over to our cousin's graduation party that turned out to be off the hook! They had two kegs for about 30 people and after quickly kicking the 1/4 one, my uncle headed off to pick up another. I was impressed. We had a good time and even caused quite the stir at the beer pong table because we were so good.

Sunday I was off and spent is doing nothing, which I needed to do.

Monday I worked at 7am, which was brutal, as always and that night I didn't get much sleep again! I was worried for Tuesday because I 1) worked at 7am again and 2) had tickets to see The Raconteurs that night!

Of course I went to the show. I think I would have gone even if Ali and Bearthaniel would have had to prop me up, haha! The Raconteurs were SO good. They were so good that I forgot how much my feet hurt and how tired I was.

Wednesday I was back at work at 9am, but at least I got to ride in HOV because the dark circles under my eyes had to sit in the passenger seat. I don't think I did anything that night.

Thursday was another regular day and Friday I had off. My initial plan was to just hang out and rest, but I'm never very good at staying home all day. Serena and Ravena were going to see the Sex And The City movie, but I hate paying for movies and rarely go to them. I also figured I would fall asleep during it anyway since they were going to a late showing, haha. However, at a bar I can stay awake and after Christopher called and said some people from college were meeting up, I headed out to meet up with them. I wasn't out very late, but somehow, as it always goes, I didn't get much sleep and headed into work on Saturday on very little sleep...again!

Per my daughter duties, I went to Dulles at about 730 to pick my parents up from their trip to St. Barths. I fell asleep while waiting in the cell phone parking lot. Awesome. Then I drove them home and turned right back around to go to a going away party in Fairfax where I stayed until 4am.

What is wrong with me? hahah! I had to rest my eyes before I could drive home and barely remember the conversation I had on the phone about 20 miles from my house.

Needless to say I slept way in today and will be having no trouble falling asleep tonight...unless someone calls with something fun to do!

XO,
SVR

My Tennessee Mountain Home

Ali and I went to Dollywood this past week. Like I reported before, Ali is maybe Dolly Parton's biggest (but not most maniacal) fan. Making our pilgrimage to Pigeon Forge, TN was something we had talked about for quite awhile and it seemed like the date we picked came up so quickly. Don't get me wrong, though, we were ready!

We listened to Dolly for much of the 7 hour drive down there, which turned out to be more brutal than we imagined. I think we were both pretty tired and, while the scenery is pretty, I-81 is not. We were very excited to see "Speed Limit 70" once we reached Tennessee. We got to Pigeon Forge in the early afternoon and took note of about 49320432 places we wanted to go to. After getting lunch we went to check into our hotel...

We booked our hotel the night before online and in the comment section I wrote, "WE LOVE DOLLY!" never thinking anyone would see it, but did you know they read that when you check in!? We do now. She read it out loud and kind of giggled. No shame, though, since we do love Dolly.

However, the maintenance man, who was hanging out nearby, took notice and, I guess, took it as an opportunity to talk to us. He was very nice...but very southern. We're still not sure what his impression of us was, but whatever it was, it didn't stop him from using many racial slurs and warning us of certain areas of town. He even offered to hook us up with some construction men in town. (We declined). It's hard for me to properly describe him because he really was a nice man and you could tell he had spent his whole life there and probably even went to school with Dolly herself! It was just a little bit of culture shock coming from PCville of Northern VA.

Once we escaped the front desk area, we settled in and then headed out to Dollywood, which is an amazing park! Not only is it precious and a great tribute to the area and Dolly, but it has some kick-ass rides! That night we mostly just explored and took pictures*, saving our ride-riding for the next day. We also had plans to go to the Brewery that night, which was walking distance from our hotel...and super cheap! It was fun!

Thursday was spent at Dollywood all day. We had so much fun! One thing we noticed about Tennessee is that the majority of the people there walk and talk much slower than we do. We noticed this often, but mostly when driving (left turn yields were brutal) and when we got off the tram from the parking lot to buy our admission tickets. See, we were towards the back of the tram when it stopped so we jumped off in excitement to make our way to the park. We realized, though, as we got closer that no one was in front of us...THEY WERE JUST GETTING OFF OF THE TRAM AND SLOWLY MAKING THEIR WAY TO THE ADMISSION GATES! It was so funny. It happened all day, too. We would get off of a ride, decided to ride it again and make it back to the line before most people had even unhooked their seat harnesses.

We had such a good time and I think we will definitely be going back! The park is fun, the Smoky Mountains are GORGEOUS and the trashiness was just the right amount.

XO,
SVR

*I haven't put them all up yet, by the way!


+Title from Dolly Parton

Cruise Control

So I haven't blogged in forever. I think it's because once I get here, there's just too much to say. So, to remedy that, I am going to do...bullet form!

• I got the estimate for my car today. $3800! WOW! Thank goodness it wasn't my fault.
  
• I got my rental car last night. Dodge Stratus. It's silver (I think...actually, earlier today, when I left the bank, I got confused because I didn't see my bright blue car) and has Maryland tags so now I can be a bad driver* and no one will think twice.
  
• My mom and I went to Leesburg tonight to visit my grandmother in the nursing home and then out for Mexican with my granddad and uncle. Before getting to the nursing home, my mom and I made pit stops at the jewelry store and the ABC store-I can be sure now that she is my biological mother.
• Just kidding, we look alike. Even though I'm way taller than her now. Especially when I wear heels.
  
• The men at the Mexican restaurant stared at me...not exaggerating. My hair did look really good today, maybe that was it. Or my control over the 1/2 priced margaritas! Ole!
• I had one of my out of control sneezing days yesterday. I used a box and a half of tissues. That's 150 tissues! That's a lot of tissues! And I even took two Claritin, wtf!? But what angered me even more than the incessant sneezing, were the people who kept giving me advice like I was sick. "Drink OJ!" "Have some tea, dear." "You need to rest." I WAS NOT SICK! I never get sick. I literally can not remember the last time I got sick. It was at least a year ago. So acting like I am a wussy, sick baby makes me angry. And today? I am fine. See! Not. Sick.
• I got the Mariah Carey CD for my mom and I to listen to on the hour long ride to Leesburg. We totally jammed to that shite. She loved it. My mom rules.
  
• ANTM should have kicked off Fatima. Can't stand that biatch. I would be happy with any of the following winning: Lauren, Anya, Kat. I'd even be okay with Whitney winning, but only if she stops talking about changing the modeling world.
  

That is all.

XO,
SVR

*Note: I'm not a bad driver. I'm an excellent driver...what I mean, is that I can pretend to be a bad driver for a week.


+Title from Mariah Carey

One Year Later

Ant said I don't have to do a 2007 wrap up so I'm not going to. And 2008? Well, so far I've been kind of tired for it. The transition from 2007 to 2008 was pretty good, though. Maybe I'll tell you about that.

I was going on about 3 hours sleep so prior to any celebrations, I had to take a nap. After said nap, I hung out with Ali and Bearthaniel and we made delicious (rich) hot chocolate and learned about meth addicts and bulimics while watching Intervention. Surprisingly, this did not ruin our appetites and we headed out in search of food. Well, we ended up at 7-11 since everything was closed. I looked like a hooker, which was awesome, since I was wearing fishnets and patent leather heels. Those Big Bites were delicious, though.

Next on the agenda was picking up Brendan and then Serena to head over to Randi's. I wasn't even sure who all would be there, besides us and Ali and Bear, but was pleasantly surprised when the following people ended up being there, too: Jonah, Tice, Kelly, MattB, Patty, and Emily.

It was a good time. We played some Texas Hold 'Em (I was winning when we took a break and we never resumed the game so therefor I am the winner of 2007!), danced, listened to awesome music (Britney, '80s!, etc.), took a gazillion pictures and all around had a good time.

Midnight was special goodness, of course. Lip locking with the hottest guy there does not result in a complaint from me:) Then we all cheek kissed everyone else and took another gazillion pictures. (I will link to these once mine are posted.)

We left the party at about 2ish, which was pretty late considering I had been up since 430am and would be getting up again at 7am* for work. So, if New Years Eve was an indicator of the year to come, it's going to be good. Not that I believe in that...but if the indicator reads "good", then why not believe in it? Hmmm.

Oh, and no resolutions. I don't make those. I am already awesome.


XO,
SVR


*Martyr baby

+Title from The Get Up Kids

Racing Like A Pro

Busy busy busy! I feel like I haven't been home much at all lately and when I am home, I go to sleep. The holidays have been great so far and Santa was very kind to me. Yes, be jealous of the earrings I got from Tiffany. I was also excited for the gifts I gave to friends and family and I hope they all enjoyed them.

Ali's birthday was a lot of fun, too. We took her to The Big Hunt and Lucky Bar in Dupont on the 21st so if you saw a gorgeous young thing with curly hair being dragged around by an equally (but different) gorgeous girl with long straight dark hair who was yelling, 'IT'S HER BIRTHDAY!" then you saw us and we would like to thank you for being there to celebrate her big Two One.

A lot of people do big 2007 wrap up blogs, but at this point, I can't really remember what all went on this year. I mean, of course I remember, but not well enough to write a succinct post. Maybe later I will try. You know, in 2008.

XO,
SVR

+Title from The National

Three Peaches

Describe yourself with three adjectives! GO!


+Title from Neutral Milk Hotel

La La Love You

I've actually never seen South Park, but I think this is what I might look like if I were on it:

They didn't have the option for an iced coffee accessory, so I chose what was closest. Also, that bag so is not me.

XO,
SVR

Tomorrow Is Already Here

I'm a little stressed. If I wasn't so apathetic about it all, I would say I am beyond stressed, but until I'm giving up sleep, it ain't no thang. Meanwhile, in between frantic researching, writing, and creating*, I am counting down to a couple of things.

1. Wed when my sister and I have hair appointments and will probably go out to lunch. I had to miss my last appointment because my job sucks so not only am I in desperate need of a trim, but I'm ready for a change. Well, a slight change. I briefly entertained the thought of going shoulder length, but for the time being I am staying long. "The time being" will probably last as long as this cool weather. Once it starts to get warm I'll be wanting it shorter.

2. Friday. OH MY GOD, Wine Week is upon us once again. I couldn't go last time because I was busy teaching crazy middle schoolers how to play instruments, but my first experience was amazing so I'm really looking forward to it. This year we're going to work through the exhaustion that comes from being wine drunk by 2 in the afternoon so we can then enjoy happy hour and maybe even regular hour;)

3. This is a longer-term thing to look forward to, but in the end of April my cousin is getting married and Ali and I are going. We're going to have an amazing time on Bald Head Island, NC and I'm so going to hook her up with the booze. (I'm hoping to hook up with some boos...hehe.)

Okay, back to work I go. This damn project is due in just a few days...


XO,
SVR



*Soon to be glittering. I'm so going to glitter up this project. Seriously