There's No Place Like...New England

This girl is headed home for 5 days to wedding plan...and mostly bask in the beauty that is fall in the most beautiful place to experience it: New England (aka...HOME). I am terribly excited. TERRIBLY. 

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I can't even tell you how happy I am. And I get to see my family and that just makes me beam. I know think I sound like a broken record but I don't think you really understand how much I love and miss my home. I ache for New England especially from September to December because these are my favorite times of the year, especially in New England. It's breathtaking and cozy and elegant and classy and nostalgic and wonderful and happy. Gosh I miss it!!!!! Oh happiness! I giggled with delight as I was packing yesterday putting on sweaters, boots, and even considered packing mittens (ok can you tell I am dying for cold weather? It's 77 degrees in my apartment right now. GROSS. GROSS! GROSS!!!! This makes me angry. I even put on sweatpants the other night just pleading that it would be cold. Well after about 20 minutes I had to change into shorts because I was sweating. Grrrrrr! Angry Ginge!) 

I am going home. The only thing that would make this perfect is if Mark were coming with me. Alas, t-minus 56 days to the wedding, but hey, who's counting? (ME. MEEEEE! I AM TOTALLY COUNTING!!!!!)

Off to New England!!!! 

Visitee and a Visitor

Last week I took a long weekend to visit Texas to visit....

 ....this handsome man!

It was a blast. I've never been to Texas before! 

We spent a day in Fort Worth at the Stockyards (mostly). Basically I felt like I was back in the old west. Cowboy gear and legit cowboys EVERYwhere!!!! And here I was walking around in Toms. What a "city" girl.

(Chuck Norris was here   +100,000 cool points for Texas)

We watched the Texas Longhorn cattle drive and for real those horns are awesome!!! 

And slightly intimidating.

I don't know how they walk around without poking each other but they do it.

We walked around the shops and may have stumbled upon a sweeeeet candy shop! Naturally we had to go in and buy some.

 Job security. Thank you Texas. I may or may not have purchased the bacon frosting to try out on a recipe to give to some bacon lovers. I was curious ok?!

THEN. For lunch Mark took me to the one...the only...In N Out becauseIlovetheirchocolateshakessomuchImightexplode! 

Get this. I ordered, obviously, a chocolate shake and indulged in ever drop of deliciousness. Mmmmm they are so tasty. My cheeks hurt from sucking so hard on the straw but they are just the thickness I love. As we were leaving Mark decided to get one for himself for the road and came back with a large so I could share. So, I had 1 1/2 chocolate shakes. 

He's spoils me so. 

Now before we returned to the Stockyards, we did some exploring of downtown Fort Worth. Mark is a good planner. He's good and is wicked fun to be with. We went to the Water Gardens, dubbed "an oasis in the concrete jungle on the south end of downtown." 

Very fitting.

SO. COOL. SOOOOO COOL!

 There are three pools: the active pool, the aerating pool, and the quiet pool. The active pool was our first stop. I believe I read somewhere that it's 38 feet deep. Anyway, it's quite a neat experience once you get to the bottom being surrounded by water. I loved it! We probably spent a good half hour playing in this pool.

This is the aerating pool. The artist was going for some sort of double effect but...I didn't quite see it. Maybe because of few of the fountains weren't spraying. But it was still neat!

This is the quiet pool. You really do feel like you're in the woods walking around this one because the walls are so high and they have water running down them. It's quite serene. 

I love water. 

Then we went back to the Stockyards and wandered in and out of the shops. Of course most of these shops have everything from license plates to cowboy key chains to pocketknives with names of them and for once I found one with MY name!!!!! (Granted it was probably made for a male. Oh well. Don't ruin my moment!)

Apparently even the jellybeans are bigger in Texas???

We found the longhorns!!!!! It was so fun to watch them maneuver around the poles and try to eat without stabbing each other. I'm impressed how well they get around.  

THEN. 
I saw these doors.
 I HAD to capture them. 
Mark looks legit and I just look like a tourist. Busted. 

We passed by a bakery and I had to pop in because I had to see if it was legit and if so, we had so get a few to try. We just had to! My mom would be proud :) We walked in and I was immediately overcome with the aroma of fresh baked cupcakes, buttercream frosting, and happiness. So. We got an Oreo cupcake, a red velvet cupcake and a chocolate with chocolate frosting cupcake. We were really impressed. We decided the Oreo was the best. The frosting was INCREDIBLE!!!! I still can taste it....mmmm mmm!

We also went through the Stockyards Museum and then the highlight of the evening: My first legit Texas rodeo COMPLETE with rodeo clowns. Oh my oh my was I delighted! IT WAS SOOOOOO FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I contemplated changing my career to bull riding so that I can be the first female champion bull rider. I don't think Mark was too terribly thrilled with that idea.

I don't have many pictures from the other things we did, but all in all, it was another incredible and memorable weekend with a pretty fantastic guy. ;)

THEN a mere 4 days later I had a visitor! My dear, darling friend Jean. We went to college together and met living in the same (GHETTO) apartment complex while taking physiology together. We both ended up in the Carolinas and a visit was in order! She is SO cool, people, SO awesome. We are medical geeks and absolutely loved our physiology and anatomy classes. She is finishing up PA school and JUST got a job. I am THRILLED for her and so proud!!!
We did a lot of touristy things because, well, you have to experience some of that when you come to Myrtle Beach! It was really fun because some of the things we did I hadn't done yet!
We spent our Saturday with a 6 mile morning run next to the beach (I got some color!!!!!! HALLELUJAH!!!), breakfast, Broadway at the Beach (with a completely necessary stop at the ginormous candy story It's Sugar), and then down to Ocean Boulevard where we rode the Sky Wheel (my first time!)....

...with a sweet view of the Myrtle Beach strip

...and walked on the beach for a bit

...and went into some shops and talked and talked and talked and talked and ate and talked.

And we saw a magic show!!!!

And basically spent a lot of time eating good food and catching up. A lot happens in three years so we had much to talk and reminisce about! It was SO wonderful to see her. 

Jean you are wonderful!!!

It's been a good month thus far! 

California....FINALLY

Finally. I think I outsmarted this picture business. Maybe. We'll see. But anyway, let's talk about my adventures in California! 

So...my mom is adorable. She picked me up and we were talking and talking and talking so we missed our exit and instead of getting home in 20 minutes, it took an hour. Also, there was an insane accident so that slowed things up a bit. She showed me my snazzy room and then my bathroom and these beauties were walking for me:

So pretty! 

Then we ate lunch, chatted, and then worked out. It was a bit of a relaxing, preparatory day. 

The next day (Saturday) we headed to Monterey: 

...and saw LOTS of seals. AWESOME. HUGE.

We walked around and had samples of chowdah, which warmed my belly and soul. I haven't had chowdah in so long! We watched seals, walked around the wharf and town, bought chocolates(!!), and had a yummy lunch on the water. 

I'm pretty sure this guy has been domesticated. He let a bunch of us snap a picture of him. Also his feet were neat. Seriously. He has talons.

Then we headed to Carmel and took the 17 mile drive along the coast, which included Pebble Beach, clear water, and me beaming like a 6 year old and snapping pictures like an obnoxious tourist.

ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!!!!

I have never seen such beauty. I want to live in Carmel. I saw so many cute houses!

Then we headed into Carmel and walked around this charming, swanky place. I was a fan. 

Cuties. 

I just liked this church.

And we ate at the Italian restaurant Nico. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm!!! Caprese salad, sparkling water, and crab ravioli. Oh and don't worry, we popped into a bakery and got pastries. Yum. 

Next...San Fran, my second favorite city ever. 

I went to Charleston. And I kicked butt today.

Prepare for a picture OVERLOAD.

This past weekend my friend Amy and I headed south to Charleston. 

Charleston is a great city. I like it a lot.

Views from our hotel window

FIRST we stopped at Starbucks and I got the salted caramel hot chocolate. Friends I have been waiting for the right time to have my first of the season and Saturday was the day. Unfortunately...the drink was really disappointing. I had the best salted caramel hot chocolate in Tucson and that's my standard. Then again I also ordered it skinny so maybe that's why? It was lacking. Oh well. Dunkin' Donuts is better. Or Ghiradelli. Or Godiva, though I haven't tried Godiva hot chocolate yet, but I hear it's better than Ghiradelli. Whaaaat? I don't know if that's even possible! I shall find out.

So we arrived Saturday late morning and the first store we pop in to, mind you we've only been in Charleston for about 10 minutes, is Rack Room and conveniently they are having a sale. Now I'm on a blood thirsty hunt for the perfect pair of brown boots. I didn't find any BUT I did see, out of the corner of my peepers while I was looking at boots, a pair of charcoal Converse kicks. 

Well.

 

I bought 'em! And so did Amy. Yes we have matching Converse shoes. I love them. These are my first pair of Converse. I had an extra spring in my step while cruising the streets. 

I told Amy we had to stop at Belgian Gelato. I serendipitously stumbled upon this delightful shop the last time I was in Charleston and now it's a must-go-to every time I am there. I mean how do you say no to a Belgian chocolate lined waffle cone with chocolate hazelnut and white chocolate praline gelato? Answer: YOU DON'T. It's reeeeally, reaaaaalllllly, really good.  

 

 Sitting on a porch swing on the pier, eating gelato, in my new Converse, in Charleston. Bliss.

Then we played near the fountain.

 

And walked down Rainbow Row. BEAUTIFUL!

And played in an alley. This alley even has a legit street sign.

Pretending like we live in one of the cute apartments off of the alley.

Ok. We saw these everywhere. I have no idea what it's a picture of or what it's for or what it's supposed to represent. If you know, PLEASE TELL ME!!! My curiosity is killing me.

And then we spent lots of time walking up and down King Street. We stopped in a 2-story (!!!!) Starbucks for water and a bathroom break and a rest. We people watched from the second story and planned all of the shops we were going to hit up. So cool! 

One of the shops was Cupcake for...cupcakes! We got red velvet and salted caramel. To be honest, they were good but not great and definitely not worth $3 a pop. I made salted caramel cupcakes a little bit ago and I thought the flavor of mine was better. I'm not being a snob, I'm just sayin'...disappointing. 

Our purchases from the day. I think maybe we have similar taste?!? 

The next morning we slept in (*heavenly music*) and then headed out for brunch. We found this AH-dorable grocery/cafe called...Queen Street Grocery and Cafe! They have lots and lots of crepes so that's what we got! VERY, VERY good. If I lived in Charleston, I would eat my way through their menu because it looks scrumptious.  

While we were eating we heard someone at the next table say something about a pumpkin pie popsicle. Naturally we perked up and agreed after we finished to go back inside and search for the popsicles. SUCCESS! They had some fantastic flavors so we settled on blood orange basil (with basil leaves in it!) and pumpkin pie (with graham crackers in it!). They were incredible. We will be stopping by here on our next trip. I want to try the chocolate salted caramel. 

On our way home we stopped at Trader Joe's, because the one right outside of Charleston is the closest one to us (such a tragedy). I bought Scotty some pumpkin treats so he can enjoy the fall season with me! Then I bought the tea (which I'm sipping on right now-yum!) and those chocolate cat cookies because I love them and my mom always buys them and hides them in the freezer. Like that'll stop me.

It was a fantastic weekend! We're planning on going back in December to see what it's like around Christmas time and we'll bring our beach cruisers now that we have a pretty good sense of the town. I CANNOT wait!!!

So today.

I kicked butt. Not only did I finish my patients in a very decent time but....I taught Dr. W something he didn't know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The man knows practically everything but, not about falsely elevated albumin and prealbumin! SHAZAM!!! I taught a doctor something new. Wahoooo!! I was a little intimidated while I was explaining it to him. In fact, I was so scared that I was wrong or had explained it incorrectly that I called the other dietitians afterward just to verify. Verified. WHABAM. Whew. 

Next.

Half marathon in t-minus 5 days. I'm nervous but at the same time, not really. I won't get nervous probably until the day of the race. Even then, I'm trying to approach this mentally as just another long run. That helps. Plus, it's my first half so I don't have a time that I'm trying to beat. I just want to finish. I ran my second to last run today of three miles.

                         

It was getting dark so I was hauling and I felt sluggish but apparently not. COOL. I will not be running that fast during the half, of that I can assure you, but it certainly makes me feel better! I was SO sore from walking all over Charleston this weekend. My hamstrings were to tight that you could have played a melody on them. Seriously. And my calves felt swollen. But today's run was confidence boosting and relieving. One more run to go! 

And this is what Scotty looks like when I scratch his belly every night before bedtime. Love that little smile!