Yes, lobster rivals an outdoor movie screen

Guys, this is making it HARDER!!!

Anyone knows I love NYC/New England/DC/Boston.
But I am a SoCal wimp for good weather!
(Blame it on my parents!)

The following are ejemplos to explain further what I like to call 'my own great East/West Schism':

A new East Village NYC Lobster Roll shack (even bearing my nephew's name!) with proprietors from Cape Elizabeth, Maine- the original lobster roll place! (It's beautiful up there, ps...you eat your rolls overlooking their gooorgeous craggy shoreline.)

Bonus- they only use knuckle and claw- any lobster aficionado will tell you its the best part! (Missing good shellfish, and heck, ANY FRESH SEAFOOD, in the landlocked beef country that is Utah. Apparently I didn't overdose enough this summer...)

and

A Hollywood Hills home with disappearing edge pool AND outdoor screen. My only question is if you can watch movies in the pool...


More confusion, non-schism related:
I am still annoyingly congested and tired, despite pounding Sudafed's maximum suggested dosage for the past 5 days.
No cough, no fever and thus, no flu.
So that's good, right? Seeing as some silly boys in my complex have quarantined themselves in for the weekend with swine flu?
Yes?
Suggestions?

St. Albans School for Boys

Just say that title twice aloud....SWOON!

Brittany features a Door of the Week, which began as "Dør of the Week" when she was in Denmark (the motherland) this past summer.

This week she featured St. Albans/National Cathedral School (in Washington, DC).

photos via The House That Lars Built

My dad attended St. Albans all 13 years. He tells the story of learning to count to 50 in kindergarten to his teachers (nuns) for the prize of a snow globe. He proudly won it, after they asked him to stop after 100.

St. Albans is also where he proposed to my mom, the carefree California volleyball & beach lover. (He soon became a California convert. She insists she had no sway.)


I don't think there's anything more darling than little East Coast prep school boys. Maybe it's because I don't have little brothers, but I sometimes have this 60s housewife imagery of kissing my little boys' cheeks as they run off to school dressed in their sport coats, ties and tucked in collared shirts.


Needless to say, St. Albans holds a very special place in my heart.

Breakthrough

Chantelle: I've taken a new approach to life.

me: oh?!

Chantelle: two words: country music

me: OMG

ESP

I've been obsessed with taylor swift all summer

Chantelle: yeah

exactly

jamming out to her in my car all the freakin day long




Most poignant T. Swift summer '09 memory:

going into the gym where my collegiate athlete sister lifts and seeing some guy wrestlers/rowers pumping iron to "You Belong With Me." Yes.

Here's to napping naysayers

"Napping should have the status of daily exercise."

-James Maas, Cornell University sleep expert

Read full article here.


Here's to a restful, content weekend.

It was storming today, so I'm hoping to get some quality hammock time in tomorrow (and maybe a run too).

Pictures forthcoming from my daytrip to Ogunquit and Kennebunkport, Maine.

XO

Contentment

Sun-kissed.
Family- blissed.
Nothing-missed.

Forest-soothed.
Lake-seduced.
Stress-reduced.

Makeup-free.
Care-free.
Pain-free.

Laughing.
Learning.
Cooking.
Cruising.
Discussing.
Dancing.
Reading.
Writing.

Swim suit-wearing.
Hairbrush-neglecting.
Sunset-watching.

Lobster-eating.

Content.

Remember when...

My sister accidentally ran a red light in Boston yesterday and a pasty white, four-eyed, wannabe machismo with a gut and receding hairline got out of his car and legitimately chewed her out at the next light. You know, because his elongated horn sounding was not enough. The shock factor of it all was surprisingly ephemeral...we laughed for the next hour.


I thought I got prank called the other night about my blue suit but it was really a Chinese lady from the website where I ordered it checking on the shipment. It became quite obvious that it was legit when, after gleefully screaming back at her ("Who is this?! Haha!!"), she repeated her shtick without a slip of any telling sign of English tonality or giggles in the background. I profusely thanked her, then laughed at my suspicious self (Friends...please prank call me? Just like I seriously, truly adore waking up at home to a toilet papered yard, I love it when I can call you out on my fake pizza order. Thanks!!!)


Rachel and I drove through the woods listening to K-Ci and JoJo blaring. And I did the same with one of my sisters today and, while she did get into it...she just. did not. understand.


I deactivated my Facebook. I simply question its relevancy. Most of this, I'm realizing, will be a great litmus test for the people who are truly most currently important in my life: it's too weird having a girl I used to babysit (and her mom), my past crushes, and my best of friends on the same playing field. My nearest and dearest will know how to get a hold of me, or be more resourceful (is that selfish? I suppose I run that risk.).
The kicker?
A friend request from my dear dear uncle (more like 2nd cousin once removed)'s awful ex-wife, as well as the feeling of knowing I don't want to be defined by a "like" of a status update, a comment on a photo, or an invitation to join the now-annoyingly-ubiquitous groups for wedding announcement address sending. I certainly don't look down on those who still have accounts: I simply claim ownership of what works for me, and now, I'm moving on.
If I need to get in contact with someone desperately, perhaps I'll reactivate for a second to message them with my information. Compromise? Yes.
Capiche.


I pushed the 70s in number of "Me Talk Pretty One Day" pages and still waiting for the "Memoirs of a Gay Childhood-meets-Lewis Carroll Psychedelia" novelty to wear off.
Just so harrrd because I was laughing out loud at Sloane from page 1!


Mark Ronson remixed Amy Winehouse...the twist-n-shout greatness commences at 0:52...

Twelve twenty-three P.M.

is when I woke up, summoned to breakfast and boating...

Yes, I am enjoying vacation.

(And no, I still haven't adjusted to Eastern Standard Time.)

Yankee doodling is oh-so dandy!

Last 4th of July, I boarded the Q train to Brooklyn (with bing cherries bagged fresh from Whole Foods), and spent the day hanging out with a couple cousins in Park Slope. It was raining that night, so instead of watching the NYC firework spectacular, we watched it on TV with the residual firework sound coming from outside the window.

This year, my dad did not have quadruple coronary bypass again, so we're all up here at the lake seeing this darling Yankee town's parade down Main Street, going boating, and eating fresh watermelon with the East Coast cousins. Besides honoring veterans like my grandpa, this is what my 4th of Julys have looked like throughout the years.


And don't forget the nice, thick New England accent! ....love this part of the USA.

Don't Hassle Me, I'm Local

Here's a recap of my last 36 hours... (kind of like my Brussels trip)

Utah to Vegas with one of my very bestest friends...Cirque du Soleil...amazing restaurant at Venetian that merits a whole other post...

Vegas to California...Home to an empty house to throw in sister's retainers she forgot and Disney movie classics I haven't seen for years.
(i.e. Parent Trap? Peter Pan? Princess Diaries? Holler!)

Driven to the airport by dear grandpa, who will be joining us in a few weeks for our 'family reunion eternal extravaganza extreme' (F.R.E.E.E.- wow, I'm clever when I'm tired).

Took lots of drowsy meds, but they only gave me a writing itch...12 pages later....touched down at Boston Logan today to meet the fam, who had flown in from Miami for the past half-week or so....snuck up on them in baggage claim looking a tad haggard and wearing socks under my Rainbow flip flops, proclaiming

"Don't hassle me, I'm local."

(Basically our summer theme movie for life)

Now catching up on emails, my online internship, dis blog, plotting my roadtrip to NYC....with some soothing, melancholic Coldplay in the background...


Cheers from the East. I'm so happy to be here. xo

Summer re-shaping

Remember this post?

Yeah, well...DC is a no-go this summer. In a nutshell:

The recession is so real, it even refuses my slave labor.

Yes, even though the BYU internship program I was working with assured me I would not have to submit more than 12 applications, I slyly applied for another 10 behind their backs. And good thing, because I only received one offer (from MY OWN said sly shenanigans, mind you).

But that offer fell through.

But you can bet all the ice cream I ate today that it's really OK. It wouldn't have bolstered any graduate school application, nor given me any portfolio-building material.

Who said beggars can't be choosers!

July and August will still find me whisked off to the East Coast, just in time to see the 4th of July parade down Main Street in the darling lake town where my fam vacations.

Americana at it's Yankee-est.
Also, you may find me on the couch of my Park Slope cousins getting some NYC fix. Mmm.

So yeah, me, instead of gunning it like I usually do with any freelance/internship work I can scrounge up, I'm going to be taking 8 credits of school and kicking it at King Henry during May and June, spending hours at Seven Peaks in their aptly named lazy river.

The only thing that changes about the original summer post is the 1/2 marathon with my cousin, who, as an environment and public policy major at her university, will not be at the massive fam reunion because she'll be doing research in Honolulu.

I know, "research"...yeah ;)

That, and The Lion King.

But never fear, cherry blossoms and the Beltway are still in my near future...just all in due time.

I figure I better enjoy this time in my life before I surrender the meaning of carefree for good.

Maybe I'll actually get tan this summer. Stay tuned, and in the meantime, see you at the pool!

Summer taking shape...

Dedicated to plans already set and those currently unforeseen:

Move in to DC early May...

Lots of internship working...and friend-making...and real-world eschewing...

Half marathon with cousin and her friends. Dad flying out to cheer us on...

NYC trip (of many) for another cousin's baby blessing, which will include Lion King on Broadway (last time was in London in 2004, so I'm excited to see it again!)...

Massive family reunion at the lake....boating with the cousins, tennis, swimming, lots of cards and all-night Settlers of Catan tournaments, movies in the basement 'theater,' loving life....

Red Sox game in July with the cousins. Enough said. I love Fenway Park.

Friends pledging to visit from the West and the East...

More city discovery and friend-making and re-connecting...

Saying hello to many trains, subways, and metros... hopefully very few planes (I hate the whole airport charade).


Dear East Coast,
I'm coming back to you yet again....and I couldn't be more stoked.

With great anticipation and love,
Alex

The Hipster Hygiene Dilemma

My roomie Rindsey is forever annoyed by the Provo Indie-hipsters...Read this post.

I agree with her on the hygiene elitism part.

There is NO EXCUSE for bad hygiene in the 21st century (see this post where I wax longingly for hygienic Germans).

And vintage clothes are cool and eco-friendly...but you must still WASH THEM: No one is too cool for Tide.

I repeat, no one is too cool for Tide.

Thanks.

Well, I read this on Courtney's blog and was stupefied on how broad the Hipster movement is...

Hmm, that could make the east coast a problem for me, no offense to EC'ers, I looove your coast but some of your fellow Yankees fall behind the hygiene curve.
(And that was not a NYY reference, Sox fans)

is it your old buildings, charming as they are?
abundance of insufficient plumbing?
proximity to the Euros who rub off more of their deodorant-less selves on you than West Coasters (based on sheer distance decay theory)?

DON'T BE OFFENDED-- I'm just brainstorming what even my mom has been stupefied over since her EC collegiate days.


Case in point, I was working out at the NYU gym last summer and I swear, the kid next to me

a) had not showered in 3 long days
b) was wearing a shirt he had previously sweated in (the moldy re-sweat smell)
c) made many people move away from where he was and
d) was oblivious to a, b and c.

Hygiene: looks good on everyone.

My East/West Schism

Item 1:
I'm back from Boston...the grungy couch surfing caught up to me and now I'm sick. But it was worth it, even if now my throat makes me sound like I licked an ashtray with that raspy Maggie Gyllenhaal crinkle as if I were to order a bagel "light on tha schmea!"

Oh, now I'm thinking about lox and that makes me sad.

I promise I didn't get my cold from some East Coast prepster (how I fancy them so).
Though I swear I saw more attractive men, shirts tucked in (aww!) with that perfect balance of equal parts European sophistication and American pragmatism than I've seen in my 4 years in Provo.
Seriously.

Item 2:
So I came across Will's blog and remembered why I adore him...
If I lived in NYC, I would want him to be my Stanford Blatch wingman.

Item 3:
This 9-year old could teach wonders to Cougarfolk.

Item 4:
I confess: so maybe I AM really just skin deep sometimes...
Por ejemplo, the fact that I watched all 10 current episodes of The City within 24 hours. (Hey, commercial free, on MTV's web site: if I planned my days around being home to watch it I would be more worried).
Of all the things that are so mind-boggling unrealistic about the show, the only pervasive thought that keeps coming to mind is their FLAWLESS SKIN (and the fact that NY looks sparkling clean). I understand that they are wearing pounds of makeup but seriously, nobody in New York has peachy blemish-free skin like that.
Everyone knows as soon as you get to the city from somewhere else, you get a fresh crop of city blemishes that don't go away until you leave again.
And I'm convinced that Olivia is not really from the city. Because any true NY'er (let alone someone who's allegedly born and bred) would be downright embarrassed to be on any TV show about it.
So yeah, amongst all the sweeping shots of the Manhattan skyline and nostalgic building/restaurant spotting, all I can really do in the middle of the show is ogle at their clear skin.

Item 5:
I'm training for a half-marathon in early May. And I am notorious for hating running. Should be interesting.

Item 6: Another story to humor you, this just came to me: I will never forget the time I was sitting around Madrid's Puerta del Sol and my friend Sarah was around (I don't know, bumping and grinding or just being her Mexican self)...but for some reason I was alone for a couple minutes....it was 2 AM, the height of a Spanish day, and three Madrilenos come over start talking to me, preguntandome, and their THIRD QUESTION, I KID YOU NOT, was: "What religion are you?"
I thought I might die of hilarity.
If Spaniards struck my fancy, I would have considered them attractive...but they were strangely fixated on talking religion, and because I could not communicate what dear Thomas says below, not to mention that true God-loving Mormons love everyone despite their flaws (novel concept) I was way over it, and since Sarah didn't learn any Spanish in Spain, we had to bail.

We could have partied until noon at Kapital and had an amazing time.
But ah, lo siento, mi amigos, no great story to tell of that.