Adventuresam

13 DAYS 17 HOURS 54 MINUTES and 10 SECONDS

(AND I WON’T BOTHER TO ASK WHO’S COUNTING because I know my entire herd is! They’re about to join me in Pittsfurgh from their respective farms, kennels, plains, jungles, and petting zoos  — YA HEARD?!)

Anthrocon 2018 is ALMOST HERE!!!!!!!!
AWOOOOOOOOOO
Oww Oww Owwww
AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Here’s art that Katie B. made ahead of this year’s convention:

Eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, ears, ears, ears, ears, tails, tails, tails, tails!  —  also our official cheer.

This year’s crew can expect some new, happy bunnies.

And some loyal safari animals.

Like a monkey grooming another monkey for bugs, I’ve (already) meticulously looked through this years schedule and picked out 43 events that I would deem as “CAN’T BE MISSED!”

Including…

So many great things about Rodents! So thankful they can share the screen without eating my Cricket 😉 YA HEARD?

Molly horsing around:

We’re excited for the convention to run as smoothly as the freshly cleaned and brushed fur of all of our favorite animals.

SO GIDDY TO PLAY, ROLL OVER, CHASE, PLAY, SNUGGLE, WAG, and DID-I-MENTION PLAY! !!!!!  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bel and I saw a furry in downtown Pittsburgh at the PRIDE parade.  Not all gays are furry but we love it when they are  #PRIDE2018  #FURRIES2018 #PEACEFURALL

I’M SO EXCITED I COULD CHASE MY OWN TAIL!
I woof this weekend,
Furisky (a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever who is also an elephant and is also your human fur-iend, Sammi)

Links to a Hist-fury of Blog Posts:

2017:  https://sammitravis.wordpress.com/2017/07/07/anthrocon-2017/
2016: https://sammitravis.wordpress.com/2016/10/15/bow-wow-wow-yippie-yo-yippie-yay/
2015: https://sammitravis.wordpress.com/2015/12/15/riddled-with-glee/
2013: https://sammitravis.wordpress.com/2013/07/20/pitts-fur-gh-pa/
UPDATE: Since I’ve written this the ANTHROCOUNTDOWN IS NOW…

13 DAYS 17 HOURS 24 MINUTES and 19 SECONDS  

I try to go back to Jamaica every year to visit my community, to hang with the family who hosted me while I was in the Peace Corps, and to brush up on a culture and language that I once felt fluent in. I had recently visited sick Momma (RIP) and this trip, six months later, was as close as I could get to attending her funeral. Also, I visit Jamaica to feel one of my favorite feelings in the world, which is coming back from Jamaica into the United States.

So I arrived at the airport in Montego Bay, and the first taxi tried to rip me off as I walked outside into the sweltering heat. Sure, I maybe looked like an outsider, but on the inside, I’m a yardie. I rolled my eyes, told him to stop the car if that’s how much he was going to charge me, and I got out, choosing instead to walk the 45 minutes from the Montego Bay airport into downtown. Now, if you can imagine hot temperatures and a wall of humidity like I can, then you’ll understand how it felt to walk that cement lined road – with lots of horns and lots of crazy driving – into downtown Mo Bay Mo Bay Mo Bay.

This trip, I was starting on the north coast, a place where Tyra had lived and I hardly knew. But I wanted to see her and OJ — and last time they had come to Elim. So after eating some patty and Jamaican fruit (it was mango season), I boarded a bus to Ochi Ochi Ochi (why not Ocho, Ocho, Ocho?). Note: In my opinion the sweetest fruit in the world, with heaps of variety, can be found in Jamaican street markets.

Anyways, several hours later I finally made it to the stoplight in Salem where I met the wonderful Tyra, who was generous enough to let me stay with her for two nights. I wasn’t too familiar with this part of the island since my site had been so far from here (like a full 6 hours) but seeing Tyra was a priority.

Sister from another mister…and mother. But same Mamma.

Observation: It’s so sunny and people don’t wear sunglasses here.

My godson OJ, who was practically too cool to talk to me.

Darling Oral Amardae Andre Morgan.

Look at how gorgeous and not full of potholes the northern road in Jamaica is! Nothing at all like the road that led to my community.

As Tyra and I were in the car together, she was on the phone when it hung up on someone. She said: “mi phone hang up, it not have no manners.” I missed this country, I missed this language, and I missed her! She told me my patois (the language, which is also known as English-based Creole) has gotten way worse from when I lived here, which was probably true It will never be as good as it was then, which is okay as long as I can understand it.

As we kept driving along, a mongoose ran across the road and never looked back. Tyra pointed it out and reminded me that it was a sign of good luck! And you know what? I believe it did bring good luck, because not only did Tyra make it to work on time (which doesn’t seem like it would be good luck, but in Jamaica it’s very much so) but also, while she was away, I had some good luck of my own:

You know how when you go somewhere really hot and all you want is ice cream…and water, I guess, but mainly ice cream? Well, ice cream is pretty scarce in Jamaica. In fact, anything that gets that cold is pretty scarce in Jamaica. I think this is mostly (or 100% completely) due to the fact that electricity is so expensive. They rarely even have air conditioning, and if they do, it’s like air condition that’s still buffering. But — probably thanks to that lucky mongoose (or due to the fact that I was in Ochi and not Elim) — I came across a Scoopy’s ice cream shop. But as is sometimes the case with bouts of luck from a mongoose and granted wishes from rodents, you get what you want — but not quite in the way you ask. There were only 3 flavor options (fine! I only need one!). I chose  and ordered vanilla pine, which I mistakenly heard as “vanilla pie.”

Of course it wasn’t vanilla pie because (a) what is that? And (b) how would a mongoose granting wishes know that that is? Looking around the shop at other flavors — chocolate raisin, orange thyme (just kidding, but it’s possible), I realized that Scoopy’s choice was like Sophie’s choice… except with all bad decisions.

*Sigh*. I’ll tell you though, ice cream is ice cream, and good luck is good luck. I enjoyed my melty vanilla pine, ate the entire thing, said thank you, and my ice cream craving was put at ease (for about an hour).

It was also in Ochi that I also began my search for the best fried chicken. You haven’t lived…truly lived until you’ve had the fried chicken in Jamaica. It is absolutely glorious. And maybe it was my mongoose luck, but I definitely found what I was looking for.

Not only was this fried chicken incredible, but also it brought back so many memories of when I lived here. So it was tasty, but, especially with the rice and peas, it was also nostalgic.

Winner winner chicken dinner.

I headed back to Tyra’s to take a nice cold shower (she only has cold water, so, again, it’s like Sophie’s only choice, but this time the right choice) and went to bed. Just moving around in Jamaica is exhausting.

The next day I decided to treat myself, went to touch di road, and headed for a swim in the Caribbean Sea (which, no surprise here, is also not cold). Most of the gorgeous beaches in this part of the world are privatized and owned by resorts (some really shady business going on here, which is infuriating as a local), but I managed to walk far enough to find this fishing spot, where I went for a dip.

This picture says a lot a-boat this wonderful beach.

Victoria and I are both white but only one of us applied sunscreen.

Fishing nets or kids’ jungle gym?

I followed the exercise with a hearty breakfast. Because I was on the north coast, it was relatively easy to find exactly what I was looking for…

..a traditional Jamaican breakfast (I got mine without the saltfish, which although is the national dish, is also imported from Alaska. Oh, Jamaica.). The food was delicious and oily. And for those of you who don’t know (which is probably all of you except Patrick — hi Patrick!), Ackee is the yellow stuff in the middle that looks like eggs. It doesn’t taste like eggs — I wouldn’t say it’s better, but it is good and it is different — and it does actually grow on trees. I was so excited about eating a traditional Jamaican breakfast that I texted Tyra that I was eating Ackee. Since, you know, “Ackee” is not a word I use often, autocorrect changed it to say that I was eating a Jew. Talk about lost in translation. Along with my Ackee, I also enjoyed a side of bread fruit, which is more bread than fruit (and also grows on trees), and my favorite type of actual bread — festival bread, which is like a party in your mouth. Festival is so good that one time Patrick and I entered and won a hamburger cooking competition at Giant Eagle using homemade festival as the bun.

Speaking of party….
I was invited to my first Jamaican baby shower at Lisa’s (Tyra’s sister) . Now, baby showers are a huge deal in the US, but not so much in Jamaica. A lot of the guests at the party told me that this was also, actually their first baby shower too. But it did not disappoint, because it started 6 hours late with a prayer, and was filled with hilarious games and a ton of fun, photos, and laughter.

The beautiful mother-to-be, her husband, and her adopted sister.

Some of the best games included a race to see which man could put on a baby nappy on a stuffed animal correctly and, my favorite — pictured below — was the game where the men gave birth to their newborn balloons with no hands. The catch phrase for the game? “Daddy is good at getting the belly big, but now what does he do if him have a big belly?” Priceless.

Daddies with big bellies & balloon babies.

Another awesome part of being up north and being at the baby shower was that I got to meet the rest of Tyra’s family. I was able to meet her mom, who I had never met before, and her 6 siblings.

Such beauty (and facial diversity). That’s Tyra’s mom who will be 50 in December with her youngest, Tyra smallest sister, yellow.

Pulled Jerk pork,which I brought to the party.

So after spending a great few days with Tyra and her family, I headed out to Elim (which.. if you don’t know by now, you really gotta start paying attention) where my Peace Corps site was. I never had a problem sticking to my Peace Corps budget when I was in Elim — there was hardly anything to spend money on — and this trip so far had been cost-efficient because Tyra had let me stay with her. Rather than rent a car, and not just because I popped a tire  immediately last time, I decided that I would appreciate Pittsburgh more if I continued living like a local here in Jamaica. Not to mention that I had given Tyra all of my money for OJ’s schooling.

Now, the public transportation in Jamaica is efficient, but also very cramped and hot. And it took over 6 hours to get to Elim. So, since we stopped in lots of towns along the way, I got out every hour and a half, walked round, stretched my legs, convinced myself I wasn’t car sick (reverse psychology does not work), ate some fruit, and eventually caught another bus to the next town. It was nice to get a break from the smell, the heat, and the lack of space. It rained when I was in Mandeville, and within minutes, the streets were flooding because of horrible drainage designs, which meant that I had to walk through nasty, dirty garbage water. Time to get back on the bus.

On these buses, which are actually kind of just vans, we are required to sit 5 to a row. They lay out a seat with no back, a cross seat, to make more seating options. I had to take 6 vans or taxis to make it to my old community. Each time I was on a bus and someone wanted to get off I was ecstatic because that meant we were only sitting 4 or even to a row — so. much. room. It’s amazing when you’re so cramped that being cramped (but less cramped) will have you feeling grateful. Or if your seat doesn’t have a back but then you get one how nice that feels.

Jamaican me crazy, bus.

My first stop at the Brownstown market to get some fruit and really difficult-to-eat curried crab for the ride.

So as I got more inland, the thicker the patwa and the more aggressive the street vendors, and the fewer people were used to seeing foreigners. The marketing tactics included yelling and shoving the product in my face. Not very effective. I mean, maybe I’ll change my mind about buying a bootleg movie or banana chips but I’m definitely not going to change my mind, taxi driver, that I want to go to a different part of the island instead. Like, you’re not going to convince me I need a taxi to Negril.

All of the taxis were listening to the exact same radio station, which offered very strange medical advice (“if you drink water the correct way, you may never have to go to the doctor again”), and were spewing anti-gay statements.

Rasta on the way to Elim.

Just to give you some perspective.

There was so much loud music and tons of noise and bustle everywhere. But also just friendly people who want to interact and be seen. I was very happy and sufficiently sweaty when I finally made it to Elim.

Elim

Let me reiterate, it took the better part of a very hot, long, winding, aggressive day to get from Ochi to Elim.

Arriving home.

I stopped at a grocery store in Santa Cruz (no, not California) before I got to Elim because I knew there would be hardly anything I could buy once I arrived in my very rural community. And as I was strolling through the aisles of my old stomping grounds, I remembered how I would come here for fun when I was living in Elim. Yes. You heard correctly. I would come to this grocery store, which was not air conditioned, already dripping with sweat, and try to make decisions on what to buy, even though it was near impossible to make any kind of decision because I was so hot. They don’t sell  cheese or ice cream (where’s a mongoose when you need it?), and I hardly had any money to spend here at all, but still it was the most exciting thing I did. It was so exciting that in the second year of my service, I bumped up the frequency of my Santa Cruz excursions to once a week, even though based on the past year, I only technically needed to go once every two weeks. Walking through the aisles during this last trip, I couldn’t believe that this was what I did for fun.

Ex-home sweet home.

I had the taxi driver drop me off at the end of my old road. The one that me and momma used to live on. And as I was walking towards her old yard, I passed the house where I lived for two years. It was still as cute and quaint as I remembered, complete with all the lizards (thank god for them, they eat the mosquitoes!) and the ackee trees (not Jew trees) out front.

Rural, hot, beautiful Elim — “Nah, true!”

So fresh, so green, so beautiful…so hot…so humid.

I visited Momma’s grave. I wasn’t able to make it to the ceremony (although Tyra told me it was 6 hours long), but I did send what I could for her grave, see below.

Mommas grave .

It was slightly confusing because…what is that house? I’d never seen it before. I asked the family, and they also didn’t know that particular house. But it was explained to me that, as is  custom, they buried her with mini a house on top of the grave. And even though the house itself wasn’t sentimental in that it represented a memory, it held a lot of significance because the last thing we did as a family for momma was build her a house.

Grazing in the grass.

I was able to visit familiar faces: Dita, Pooh, Sofie, Ledah, Romy, Ninja, Carl, and Dicky. Sofie told me she had just gotten back from Trinidad. I was so surprised. “What?! Wasn’t that your first time out of the country?!” Yes it was. Here’s how that happened:

Seems like going to Trinidad for the first time might be a fairly normal thing, right? But the way she met her new friend is where the story truly lies. Sofie had been browsing through Facebook one day and searched people who had the same name as she did. She started up a chat with this other Sofie with the same last name from Trinidad, and they became fast friends with the other woman inviting her to come and stay with her if Sofie could just save up for a plane ticket. Anyway, that’s who she visited in Trinidad, someone with the exact same name as her who she had never met before. It’s baffling how Jamaicans use modern technology. Like, have you ever just been randomly friend requested by people and ignored them? Yeah, sometimes there is a real person attached to that Facebook profile, and sometimes the person who  seems like a weirdo is just a Jamaican with the same name as you looking for a friend. Or a catfish, but maybe just a friendly Jamaican. Take, for ANOTHER example, Romy. He’s engaged to an American now, and he met his new wife on Facebook. MET HIS WIFE ON FACEBOOK. Crazy.

Another interesting thing  I noticed on this trip was how they’ve kind of skipped over the process of using wifi. Some people have data on their phones, but wifi is virtually (pun intended) non-existent (and definitely non-existent in Elim).

My farmer friend, Louie.

So for the next two days, I walked around Elim, and I kid you not — I felt like a celebrity there. Everyone was so excited to see me, and they were like celebrities to me, because I was equally as excited to see them. I would be walking and then all of a sudden hear “Aunty Sam!! Aunty Sam!!” It’s humbling and flattering to know that there’s a small town in the middle of Jamaica that I love and that loves me right back.

While I was there, I was really excited to see a new cookshop that had opened!  Look how pretty it is! (pictured above). Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to eat there because it’s only open sometimes on Fridays. Oh yeah, that’s right…this is why I was so grateful when  momma cooked so many amazing meals for me; it’s hard to find a shop that’s open in Elim!

Repping the Gully side. The other side is the Gaza side, which has amazing music, I can agree…..buuuut it’s a little more aggressive, and their leader is in jail for murder. So, “mi de pon di gully side”.

Sofies grandchild.

While staying in Elim, momma’s family was more than happy to let me stay with them. It was so generous, and really helped me out a lot; however, it was also stiflingly hot with no fan — just stagnant air and mosquitos. Needless to say, it wasn’t restful. That being said, I really did appreciated sleeping in her old bed, and it was really nice how much they cleaned up for me.

The room–surprised you can’t see the sweat outline of my body on the sheets.

The morning, though, was fantastic. I sat outside taking in the view I’ve seen so many times in momma’s yard. In the 80 degree heat, I had already started sweating profusely by 7am, BUT I had forgotten all about the heat once people just started coming by to give us fruit. St. Elizabeth (Elim’s parish) is known for the best, sweetest mangoes, the honey bananas, coconuts, and otaheite apples, which are supppperrr red (giving Red Delicious a run for their money in color, but it’s no contest in taste: Jamaica all the way). And they also taste like roses.

80% of being Jamaican is just sitting around being hot.

View from Momma’s house.

So again, walkin’ around and bein’ hot (like, temperature wise), I tried really hard to see more familiar faces. I didn’t have long enough to spend in Jamaica, and I wanted to visit with everyone, skin sum teeth (translation: smile), and check to make sure they were alright.

If you remember from my previous Jamaica blog, people who I had loved years ago (and still love) had  kept pictures I gave to them before I left Jamaica. And what do you know? I run into an old taxi driver, Levin, who I also gave a picture to. And when I saw him that day, he showed me, still in his taxi, the picture. The photo of us is kept in pristine condition in his glove compartment. It was almost unbearably sweet, I couldn’t believe it. Of course, we had to recreate it.

Levin now holding a picture of Levin and me 5 years ago.

Recreation of a 5-year-old photograph; we switched turns wearing hats.

I did get sunburned even though I applied sunscreen twice a day! Twice a day! I’m sorry dad. Next time I’ll bring another t-shirt.

Scenes from a shop in Elim.

In this photo he’s asking me what I think about Trump.

That cookshop, which wasn’t open on this day either.

The Basic School

Towards the end of my trip, I visited the school that I had helped build. That felt rewarding! At the time we built it, it was the first new building constructed in Elim in over 27 years.

When you take a photo with a few kids….

You’re gonna have to take a picture with all the kids…

I was finding myself needing Patrick’s teaching skills.

The kids and their one teacher (who is also a Samantha!). There are supposed to be three teachers…

Here. Have some adorable smiles to brighten your day.

Next time I go to Jamaica, I’ll try to remember to bring even more school supplies for those precious pickni.

With that being my last stop in Elim, and with a lighter backpack, I headed to Bluefields Bay, which was where Patrick lived with Bumpy, his host mom. I went and saw her in Black River on the way.

Breathtaking bluefields…fields of water…that are blue.

Blue fields meet yellow fields.

While I was in Bluefields, it struck me just how different our placements had been, and to be honest, I couldn’t believe that I had lived in Elim for two years. The differences in our sites was jarring. And, as much as I loved it, I was only in Jamaica for a week this time, and it was hard. I was counting down the hours, the minutes, the seconds, and the drops of sweat. A week was not enough to lose  the excitement of being in Jamaica but, conversely, it was exactly the right amount of time to remember how tough and difficult my life was down there.

Even though I will always go back to visit Jamaica, you’ll remember that I said that my favorite thing is how satisfying it is  to touch back into the United States after such an intense trip. I stand by saying that Jamaica is the hardest country I’ve ever been to. The reverse culture shock is real, even for such a short time. You better believe I stared at all the white people and soaked up all of the air conditioning at the lounge in the Montego Bay Airport (thank you Priority Pass). I even put on a long sleeved shirt just to prove to myself that I was finally somewhat, relatively, sort of, almost not too hot.

Until next time, Jamaica. Big up yourself, and bless up!

One love,
Aunty Sam

Reflection of the blossoms from my window.

Spring is my favorite, even though at the tailend of mine came a heartbreak, but also so many other beaaaautiful things that really blossomed into a sense of renewal. For example, I took Victoria Pinksburgh out of storage, and we started getting reacquainted.

Victoria Pinksburgh II striking a pose.

I rode around the city and admired all the flowers. 

Such a cutie.

Pittsburgh night sky with trees that we love.

As fun as Victoria Pinksburgh is to look at, she’s even more fun to ride — it’s like having the windows down in a car all. the time.  Which is made even better during the spring because allllll the flowers are in bloom! And I caught whiffs of blossoms every time I went for a ride.

Pinksburgh and I went for dozens of long rides around the city together and enjoyed a new route through the park which I use to clear my head.  I took Katie Diamond, Bella, and wee Emily there to enjoy the serenity as well.

Spontaneous best friend weekend.

One weekend, Helen and I played tennis, drove around the city running errands (got new cushions for our front porch), had coffee (COFFEECOFFEECOFFEE), and saw Standard Bank (it’s just like any other bank.  Picture a bank, it’s just like that.)

New perspectives: View of Pittsburgh from Pinksburgh.

I was invited as a plus one to a really fun lightning strikes party where I made friends with the hosts, Addi and Jojo. You know those people who stay to the very very end of a party? As in, they are literally the last ones to leave? Yeah, that was us but only because we were having so much fun! And Addi and Jojo didn’t mind.  How do I know?  Because we bonded (although there is no photo evidence of this bonding session.  But Bel, we bonded, I swear.) 

Not pictured: my new friends, the hosts.

The party was amazing, and I’d like to make shoutouts to the really memorable cookie plate, the mac and cheese, and the green olive cheese balls, which I didn’t have (but were really well-labeled).  Also to Matt, who is really great at playing the piano and who also tolerated — I mean…enjoyed — Helen gleefully ruining all of his songs.

The Matt & Helen spring tour.

Another very memorable party was Emily’s birthday at her house, where we celebrated the Cavs, grilled burgers, played games, laughed, drank, and talked about baseball.  I mean basketball.

“Birthday Emily” drawn by wee Emily.

The Cavs crew! Not pictured: Laura and wee Emily.

Here’s the SparkNotes version of some other May standouts:

80’s Day.

• When Helen and I turned the air conditioning on in our apartment for the first time this season and it didn’t catch on fire.
• Molly T. gave birth!!! 
• A royal wedding
• Surf & turf dinner, cooked by Sprouty, which was literally the best meal of my life.  THE BEST MEAL OF MY LIFE.  The best sea bass I’ve ever tasted in all my years of living, which I will remember until the end of time and then on into eternity.

I mean…come on. The Sea Bass was so good that I didn’t even eat the Filet Mignon — the FILET MIGNON.

• Getting to know Sprouty when he invited me over and cooked me dinner. (See above).  He had actual sprouts growing and gets judged by his valet.
• Getting back into yoga
• The surf & turf dinner
• “Everyone be nice to Emily’s cupcake.  especially you, beans” – Bel
• My parents went to Holland, celebrated King’s Day — a holiday that none of us had ever heard about, biked around during tulip season, and visited Iceland.

Orange for King’s day! Also, pretending that balloon is my face.

My parents, Hulda, and her boyfriend ❤

• A comedy show with 3 teenage girls and Jason Clark as the hilarious host
• Talks with Julia about a business
• When Brittny and I got paid by Sebastian to hangout
• Playing tennis with Krupa and having a coal train go by sooooo slowly that we couldnt hear each other for an hour and a half.  It left just as we finished and I took her for her first ever scooter ride where a gopher ran at us full speed.
• Those never ending 23 and me questions
• The Smallest Show
  

  Hanging out with friends.

   

• A steak dinner for a belated Mother’s Day which was followed by ice cream…and then more ice cream. My dad and I went to two separate ice cream shops to do an unofficial taste test that no one asked us to do but was conclusive.

There was nothing left on my plate.

• When Zack finally came in at the end of my Wednesday shift.
• The Surf & Turf dinner…
• The sea bass from the surf & turf dinner.
• Remembering my friend Brendan on May 23 (RIP <3)

Another great night was the “Thank you” dinner with Kristin, Helen, and Emily where we drank great cocktails and had delicious food.  So… “thank you” for what again?  Months (and months) ago, we drove Helen and Kristin to the airport, and they promised they would plan a dinner to say thank you. So finally, after an epic group thread and consulting the farmers almanac, we found a day when our schedules lined up.  Emily picked me and Bel up, and drove us to the Thank You dinner… which was kind of ironic since the whole dinner began because we drove them to the airport. In the words of Emily: “I figured you might need a reminder of why we’re having this dinner in the first place.”

Thank you for the thank you dinner!

Thank you for taking a picture of the thank you dinner.

May was a fabulous month, even through the heartbreak. And my friends really showed up.  Plus, I have to mention it again, the joy of having an experience of a lifetime — eating that sea bass from the surf & turf dinner.  

Spring is spectacular, all those flowers, all the scooter rides…
I love it more and more every year,
‘mi

When anyone says “Cinco de Mayo,” the first thing I think of is Colorado, naturally.  (working on my sarcasm).  Anyway,  I wanted to visit Patrick in Colorodo before he moves (!) and dates that lined up for us happened to fall on the weekend Cinco De Mayo.   Thus, Boulder for Cinco de Mayo.

I spy with my little eye…Patrick’s true love.

Thursday night when I landed Patrick picked me up and we stayed up chatting.  SO fun.  Bestie catch up!  And then the very next day I got to shadow Patrick’s 6th grade class.  Before school, we stopped at MINE coffee shop (all MINE MINE MINE).  Though at 8am I already had the energy of a 12 year old and was bouncing off of the walls… so I ordered my first ever “decaf cappuccino.”  It was delicious

Reppin’ Jamaica.

Patrick’s class was the science class I wished I had had in 6th grade. He literally grabbed his guitar, stood on his desk, and taught parody rap songs to the kids, which were tailored to the school/lessons of the day. The kids are also allowed to stand on the desks during this time. I considered enrolling, I have so much I could learn…is that legal or…?

Another perk was that it was flower day…which, was a day where we learned about flowers. Beyond the standing on desks and rapping to acoustic melodies by Dr. Marti, we got to go outside and collect, and then dissect, actual, real-life flowers.

Choosing favorites.

Being a kid is great but being a grown-up his even better.  And at the end of the day, we were ready for some grown-up time. We went to Tim’s house, another teacher from school, to hangout on the lawn without an agenda.

…In fact, our agenda was to make an agenda. But first, a jam sesh.  And after I laughed along as they planned their “detention party” for Patrick’s going away fiesta. The rule was that you had to come in an outfit that was breaking the dress code and the party slips were written up on real detention slips.  Genius. 

Pre-yahtzee:  Introducing the band, The Nawtzees!

———-

Before Patrick was to move in a month or two, I asked him if there was any part of his house that he didn’t have any memory in and if we could make one.  He said that he didn’t have a memory on the landing  stairs next to his room. We decided to come up with some activity for that memory-less corner of his home.  That afternoon we went on a hike in Gregory Canyon — one of Patrick’s favorite trails and it was easy to see why.  As we hiked we brainstormed ideas.  It was spring time and we were inspired to gather up flowers (it was the day after flower day, after all) and scatter them all across that landing spot at the top of his stairs.  

Afterwards, we held led a laughter yoga session, complete with a lie down to really crush those wild flowers into the ground and make cleaning up harder, and also to fill the space with some really great energy.  Voila! A broom and mop were needed and a memory was born.

Floor-al designs.

It was time to head to the Cinco de Mayo party that Alex was throwing!!  She and I didn’t get to talk as much as I’d have liked (wish we had! She hosted a lovely party <3) but there were so many great guests in attendance and party games to play including HQ trivia as a group. Unbelievably enough the savage question was:

“Which one of these disputed territories is NOT claimed by Georgia?

1. Transnistria
2. Abkhazia
3. South Ossetia”

If you’re a reader of my blogs, then you know that Patrick and I were freaking out. He was on the mystery trip and we were together in Transnistria!!! How CRAZY is it that one of the questions was about an obscure place that we went together this same year?!!!!  Insanity. 

Party people.

So maybe after like a margarita or two, Mckayla, someone I had literally just met invited me to her Halloween party. Excited, social Sammi was, like, really happy–I mean really happy about being invited. I was so excited that I literally asked her for her address right then and there. For a party. Five months from now. In a different state. But you know, we just connected…at least I thought we did.  She may not feel the same way.  I was over eager.   Which I know, doesn’t sound like me.  Someone, thankfully interrupted my aggressive friend making to ask Mckalya if she liked art and her answer was: I’m open-minded.   What a great response! From now on whenever someone asks me if I like music, I’m just going to say “well, I’m open-minded.”  Also, I’ll see her at that party in October.

Money, Glamour, Fame.

Another cool thing about this party (besides making new friends, laughing hysterically, eating good food, and mild debauchery) was seeing Patrick partially combine friend groups — success!

Cinco de Mayo, the only Mayonnaise themed holiday.

A meme that deserves a mention: During the party, I got a text from Bel who was at a seperate party back in Pittsburgh that (apparently) had some really amazing, fresh baked cookies. She was gushing about the cookies, how many she ate, on and on, and then…A SECOND BATCH CAME OUT!!  She sent me a text that said:

“Here’s actual footage of me when the second batch came out.” – Bel

I laughed for like 5 minutes straight and started crying. How lucky am I to have a best friend who can make me laugh until I cry through text from a different state?

On Sunday morning Patrick took me to the airport and we left with plans to see each other again soon.  Maybe this year we’ll go to another obscure territory that’s unrecognized as a country so we can win another HQ trivia question.

Hasta pronto,
‘mi

PS.  Congratulations to our friend Liz D. on her upcoming wedding, bless up yourself!

We’re going to get cryptic here in this blog post, and by cryptic, I mean that there’s a 95% chance you won’t understand what I’m talking about. Unless you’re Helen, then you’ll 100% know what I’m talking about. No, I’m not going to write the whole blog post in morse code because who has the knowledge or the time? So if you want, put on your detective hat, grab your spyglass and your Sherlock Holmes pipe, and start an investigation to figure out what the heck is going on here. Otherwise, sit back and enjoy the ride.

CLUE #1: The beginning of mystery weekend

The weekend began on Thursday, in Erie, where we went to see our one-time favorite comedian, Brian Regan, perform — both our past and present selves had a fantastic night.

Brian Regan!

CLUE #2- A coincidence or planted evidence?

Sometime during the weekend, an individual we had just met asked me how old I was, which I declined to answer because it was rude. So they asked a less rude question which was  “How much do you weigh?”  “Would you like that answer in pounds, kilos, stones, or ounces?”, I offered.  “How about in cans of beans?”, was the response. I laughed, how could they know how much I LOVE beans.

ANYWAYS, Helen and I get back to our house and guess what? We come home to an open can of beans in the fridge. Shall we call it LegumeGate? Was it all a coincidence? Regardless, LegumeGate had its own theme song — “You Bean-long with me”– a parody T-Swift song created by Helen (better than the original if you ask me).

CLUE #3- The classic “switcheroo”

After Bella performed at Cruz with Poppy Champlin, I drove her car which — hard to believe — is slightly different than mine. It’s the exact same, only Bella’s is a newer model and actually feels different to drive. But no one believed that it was not my car….or was it?

CLUE #4- The onion bowl infiltrators

At the dream flat, Helen kept the clementines and the onions separate. But I combined them because I didn’t think we would get confused.

Bowl mates.

Later on in the night, we decided to squeeze The Cuties in our mixed drinks because it was a good idea.  

CLUE #5- The unusual suspect

A heart-to-heart.

On Saturday, bright and early, we  worked out at our local gym where Helen had the most gleeful burpees our trainer had ever seen.

Back at headquarters.

CLUE #6: Gathering intel at the theater

At 2pm we went to go see Potted Potter and took some selfies by the stage.

Taking selfies with Mr. Potter at Potted Potter.

CLUE #7:

At our local bar (and since we “never want to be more than spitting distance” from our house) they had a mandarin infused vodka drink. Helen thought the onion infused vodka would not be far behind…
We woke up on Sunday, Helen’s actual birthday, and couldn’t believe there was still more birthday left.  I gave Helen her birthday present: Tickets to see Hamilton! I took a video; however, it is classified and you can just imagine that I’ve attached a link below:

http://www.youtube/imagine the video of Helen screaming, receiving Hamilton tickets.com

CLUE #8: Operation: Double birthday bash

So, when it came time for the actual party, I had to attend a meeting…standard procedure…nothing strange about it. Very normal.  Once it was over, Brit and I went to the party together, which was also a joint birthday party for a Great Dane turning one.

CLUE #9: The reenactment

During the party, Kristin had us recreate a moment from history: The frenemy side-eye, a classic.

Frenemies. Just kidding…just actual friends.

Bestie bliss.

CLUE #10- That magic Monday

“Wilt thou be gone? It is not yet near day. It was the nightingale, and not the lark, that pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear; Nightly she sings on yon pomegranate tree. Believe me, love, it was the nightingale.”  -Shakespeare
The nightingale has left the pomegranate tree. I repeat: the nightingale has left the pomegranate tree.
CLUE #11 – Harry and his muggles

Bonding with Mr. Potter himself, the ultimate gay ally.

For us, the clues from Helen’s birthday add up to one of the best weekends of our lives.  There are lots of loved ones who shared it with us who aren’t pictured, or they are pictured and they’re wearing their invisibility cloaks.  Our gauntlets (of fire) runneth over.
Happy birthday, Bella!
Love,
‘mi

Mississippi crew of 2.

So…Mississippi was not the 47th state to join the good old US of A.  (#47 is New Mexico, thanks Google). Luckily, this blog post is not based on historical accuracy, and Mississippi is, in fact, the 47th state that Patrick has visited!

For Patrick’s birthday this year, we headed out on a road trip to visit a state that he had never been to before.  Just FYI, one of his goals is to visit every state. We started out in Memphis, Tennessee, because it was the only ten I saw… (okay, I guess that joke only works in the present tense).

The morning of our trip, despite only getting 5 hours of sleep, I woke up on the first alarm, put in my guitar pick earrings (because “when in Memphis..”), and got to the airport an hour and a half early. Let me repeat that: This was the type of trip that I was so excited for that I got to the airport an hour and a half early. Thanks to Chase Sapphire and their priority pass, I was able to spend this extra time in an airport lounge eating jelly beans.

Right off the plane it was obvious that Memphis is known as a music city.  I started pointing out all of the musical imagery to Patrick just to make sure he knew he was included.  

I wonder what “sounds” encompasses…is it different than music? TBD

So besides the music, sights, and sounds (that may or may not also be music), the sign should have also included BBQ. Because there’s a lot of it, and they only sell it by the pound. The first thing we did after a super easy car rental pick up was drive to A&R BBQ.  We ordered 1 lb of hot sausage and 1lb pulled pork. They wouldn’t sell us any less.  Was it a ton? No, it was only 2 lbs, I told you. But was it a lot? Yes. But was it also delicious? Extra yes. It was probably the best BBQ I’ve ever had.

Now, in my right hand is one lb of meat smothered in sauce.

So we had some sights (that bbq shop was definitely a sight to see), we had some sounds (Does talking count as a sound?), so of course we had to get in some music.  And because Patrick was the bday boy — and when it’s your birthday you’re not supposed to do an ounce of work even though he was the one who knew the most about music — I decided to check out some funky jazz. I came across this one band — Thump Daddy. And if you’re not already impressed by the name, and if you don’t immediately picture a bunch of cool cats with black berets and sunglasses, then you know less about music than I do. 

Anyways, yeah. Thump Daddy. I checked out some YouTube videos of them; they were smooth, they were hip, they were super jazzy, and I was into it. I checked to see when they were gracing Tennessee with their presence, and, just our luck, Thump Daddy was playing at Cafe 152, which was right in our general vicinity.

Before we made it to the heart of the night life though, HQ was on and we pulled over on the side of the road to play and got our highest score yet… 11/12!  So close to winning!

We headed to Beale Street, specifically Cafe 152 in search of Thump Daddy, but we couldn’t find the bar. A little defeated, we ended up going to a random spot that wasn’t too crowded and didn’t charge cover because, let’s be honest, that’s almost as good as seeing Thump Daddy. There was also live music at this random bar, but it was just a bunch of old white guys singing Backstreet Boy covers. As we gazed upon this throwback cover band, we realized there was a “152” on the screen behind them. Could it be? Was this the Cafe 152? Was this the opener for Thump Daddy? With spirits high, I excitedly asked the bartender “Is this Cafe 152??  Do you know Thump Daddy?  What time will they be coming on?!”  

“That’s them.” She says pointing to the guys on stage, who were singing “Toxic.”

I was really confused. “Huh?”
Patrick said to me “Is this Thump Daddy?”
No! It couldn’t be!  I turned to him puzzled “No, this isn’t them, I looked them up before this.”

Patrick laughed at me the whole night as it dawned on me that this was indeed Thump Daddy.  They had become gentrified. They were no longer Thump Daddy — cool jazz cats with black berets — they were now “Papa Daddy” or “Thump Papa.” But hey, to be honest, this was kind of our demographic and it was really fun.

Thump Papa…at least one of them is wearing sunglasses.

After the Thump Papa show, we ended up going to a brothel-turned-bar. The brothel had shut down in 1992, and being in there was kind of eerie; I felt for the women. We met the bartender, Nate, who had been working there for decades, and (after finding cash) I even got him to sign a $1 star note (heads up, Andrew and Brian, one’s coming your way!).

Nate, the bartender and music selector.

Nate signing the $1 bill for my friends.

After our one wild night in Tennessee (which induced a memorable moment in Rayfords disco and Dominos that took so long to arrive that I fell asleep and ate it cold the next day), it was time to keep moving. We headed to Mississippi, Patrick’s 47th state. On the ride there we talked about if the leaves fall off in this part of the country (they do) and bought Russ a fake plant (you’re welcome).

So, of course, the first thing we did when we got to Mississippi (like the first thing we did when we got to Tennessee) was order some BBQ. We arrived at this BBQ place that I had researched and had won the title of world champion ribs for 6 years. WORLD CHAMPION RIBS! As we ordered the ribs, the woman asked:
Do you want the ribs wet or dry?
Us: …Yes…?
Silly Yanks.  We didn’t know how to answer that question, but after her recommendation, we ordered them wet. Which was a great decision.

Wet ribs and dry rinds.  If that lst BBQ wasn’t the best I’ve ever had than this definitely was.

Even though we were incredibly full after our world champion ribs, Patrick asked if I thought there would be good pecan pie anywhere. While we couldn’t find it at the rib joint, I made it a point to find some pecan pie while we were in Mississippi. I was determined to find pecan pie; I made it my mission to find pecan pie. I was going to find some amazing pecan pie if it was the last thing I did….for Patrick, of course.

We continued on our way to see Russ and I had 2 double shot cans of coffee on the way (YUM), SO IF I WASN’T ALREADY PUMPED TO SEE HIM NOW I WAS!

We met Russ at an arts festival (where I bought the perfect necklace) and also got to meet Ryan, the guy Russ has been working with for years (who I’d never gotten to meet until this point). He’s great.  We admired their booth where they were selling beard oil products and had a blast playing with some of their photobooth props:

The three amigos.

Don’t mess with Munson and Brother..actually yes, mess with them. Buy their beard oil.

After the art show and checking out some Southern Belles, we went to grab dinner. It was Italian night at the place Russ chose and, since he had been there several times before and has good taste, we all decided to order the exact same thing as him. For dessert I ordered the “energy bar” which, with condensed milk and lots of chocolate, was more like an anti-energy bar.  Still no pecan pie for Patrick.  As we were standing in line, Russ kept saying how exhausted he was. Our conversation went something a little like this:
Russ: Wow, I’m so tired, I can’t wait to sit down (Pause…)
Sammi: I can take a hint. Do you want to sit down? I know what you’re going to order. They call me Take-a-hint Sam.
And thus, my new nickname was born.

Russ had cleaned his entire place, gave us keys to his house, and made us feel completely welcomed — THANK YOU!  That night Patrick and I watched ALL the movie trailers in bed and unscrewed the lightbulb because of the clinking I couldn’t figure out.

The next day, we woke up, went for a run, and decided to go on a cultural excursion to church. I was vetoed from going to a methodist baptist church and we ended up at just a regular baptist church. It was a massive place, had hundreds of attendees, lots of singing with karaoke style entertainment and words on large screens above us (at one point on the screen there was a question in the form of a song called “Who can compare?”, but I leaned into Patrick and told him this was a non thinking question, a rhetorical question.  Take-a-hint Sam knew not to try to answer this).  In addition there was a live band and live singers — the whole shebang (but not with a bigbang theory…if you catch my drift). And I was really getting into it, singing, standing, sitting, standing again, sitting again.  It was engaging and I was all in.

I started off in the middle seat (between my besties) but every time we had to sit or stand (often) I moved so Patrick and Russ could have a turn.  The two of them stayed stationary but I, like a happy seal, moved all around. It was so fun to have the middle seat!  Everyone should get a turn! This was great!

That was, until, the message got unnecessarily mean. As the pastor was giving the sermon, he started getting hateful and judgmental. I was shocked and mad! I started crying — the message really rubbed me the wrong way, to say the least, and I felt like I was betraying my soul for not speaking up for the ones I love. But, I was a visitor here and I’ve traveled enough to know that there is a time to be respectful even when you disagree and so I held my tongue (but not my tears). Once the service was over, we got out of there ASAP and I let my sobs flow freely.

—————

To make me feel better from that less than wonderful experience, we finally got to meet Russ’s girlfriend, Marnie, who he’s been with for over a year and who I still hadn’t met. But it was amazing to meet her. She’s a musician, so it was cool to get to hear her talk about all of her music stuff.  She plays with multiple parts of her body!  Very talented. I ordered exactly what she did for lunch because I figured she had really good taste (spoiler: She does).

Marnie & Russ sittin’ in a tree…ok, sittin’ in a booth…

Sammi and Patrick sittin’ in the other booth!

Later that day, the 4 of us went all around town.  Bowling, arcade games, we even rode backwards on stationary motorcycles. We also got to visit Russ’s stomping grounds. He and Ryan gave us a tour of where they make beard oils and also (separately) where they make candles. 

Patrick and I each got to pick out a souvenir candle and Patrick said it was the best birthday present he’d gotten this year.  Not jealous, just remembering.

That’s Ryan telling a hilarious joke 🙂

One morning Russ told us he was training someone else to lead a meeting and I asked if he was looking for a new role.  He said he was and I asked if he wanted the “Take-a-hint” position.  He said, yeah, he was vying for it.   I told him solemnly, “I can take a hint, I’ll step down.”

We love Mississippi!

Visited Lydia’s moms estate, had a tour, and learned about local history.

By midday, Marnie had to go to work (her last day at her old job), and the three of us went to go see Amy Schumer’s new movie. Aka my previous favorite movie. “3 I Feel Pretties.”, please.
I feel pretty.
I feel pretty.
I feel pretty.

We hung out so long in the movie theater after the movie was over that the movie started playing again.  Same trailers and everything.  We dipped into the movie next door — Blockers.  We basically got a double-feature and both movies were hilarious, I’d highly recommend either one.

They (clearly) didn’t come to clean out the theatre between shows and, in the second film I was glad they hadn’t because I found a bag of gummy worms that someone left and shared them out with my crew.  (Better than the crawfish I had initially suggested as a snack, eh?)

Double-feature aka we just stayed so long we got to see two.

Some more delicious BBQ,  *bbq tacos*

On our final day in Mississippi guess what we found? Yes, correct!  We found what I… er, I mean, what Patrick… had been looking for this whole time. PECAN PIE.

And finally Patrick got what “Patrick” had been asking about.

But wait, not only did they have pecan pie but also they had…. 

PECAN PIE WITH CHOCOLATE CHIPS!!!!!! MINE HAD CHOCOLATE CHIPS IN IT!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!!!?!!  Pecan pie with chocolate chips exists! 

On our last stop in Mississippi, by a fluke, we found birthday cake popcorn.  What..!  Birthday. Cake. Popcorn.  If you know us, you know that we’ve bonded over popcorn for 7+ years. And birthday cake popcorn on Patricks birthday?!  This was living! We must be doing something right.

…After a while we couldn’t tell what was the wax and what was the colorful popcorn. 

As we were driving, we realized we had more time than we thought before our plane the next day and so, impulsively, we thought…you know what’s better than 47 states?  48 states! We decided to head to Arkansas, Patrick’s 48th state.

Buckle up for safety…are they talking about the roads…or about Arkansas in general?

We looked on the map and tried to pick a spot.  Here were our requirements: We needed a place that was still close-ish to the Memphis airport, that had a bar that was going to be open past midnight, a hotel in town, and Uber.

As they say in Jamaica, “Arkansas was brata.”.

Couple of crazy kids partying in….Arkansas….? 

After some quick, off the cuff planning we ended up staying at the Red Rood Inn. Not a typo. They had new bathrooms, new beds, but they couldn’t change the wifi code and so, we laughed a lot about at how fitting that felt.  The Red Rood Inn, where Patrick woke up on his official birthday.

That night we walked across the street to the casino to check it out.  They had live dog racing.  Neither of us had ever seen that before but when in Arkansas, right? So, we bet on a few dogs with crazy names and I lost every time…but Patrick won every time! And, since we pooled our resources it’s like I ultimately won.  We left with a collective $15 more than we walked in with.  They had a non smoking area which cost $3 to enter so we saved our money and just left smelling like smoke.

“Here comes Rusty!”

So, what did we do with our extra funds? We grabbed an uber to Ethels Old Airport club, a bar we had picked out from Google Maps.  It had 4 reviews with a 5 star rating and was open until 4am on a Monday night.

They thought it was hilarious that we had picked this bar off of Google.

We incorrectly kept calling the bartender Lisa until someone corrected us…”No, it’s Litha.” Right.

New bartender, who dis?

In birthday heaven.

Along with great music came great conversation, and by great I mean reality-show quality.  I learned from the manager of the bar that one of the girls there had a boyfriend who was locked up (for hitting her) and she was now secretly dating his best friend. This was the same girl who really wanted to hear her favorite song by Evanescence, so she jumped the birthday boy’s que, paid the the machine a little more, and snuck in her Evanescence song.  “This isn’t mine…” said Patrick laughing.

After celebrating midnight three separate times — for Pittsburgh, Arkansas, and Denver — we took the same Uber driver back to the Casino where we began our night because that feels like how it is done in Arkansas.   One uber driver forever. 

Casino? More like casin-yes!

We ended our memorable night with fried catfish and then began again, a mere several hours later, with cookie dough dessert for a breakfast in the Red Rood bed.  I insisted we check out the Bass Pro Shop because it had come highly recommended to me when we were at Ethels Old Airport club. But wait, I’ve been to a Bass Pro Shop before, wouldn’t this one be like any other Bass Pro shop? Turns out, no.  With very little expectation, we went and were stunned by how cool it was! It was massive, and they had everything inside — including loads of live animals. I could definitely understand why this was a recommendation.

At first, he thought it was the convention center.

Actual view from the Bass Pro Shop roof.

We took photos at the top with a women from Alabama who was also there, celebrating her birthday.  These two were practically twins. Er, birthday twins, don’t worry Patrick.

That moment when you visit a 47th state…and then a surprise 48th.

Overall, the trip was a success! The music, sights, and sounds were wonderful. And so was the bbq, the pecan pie (which, again, was totally for Patrick), and the company!

Until the 49th & 50th states — Oklahoma and Kentucky, here we come!
Happy birthday,
‘mi

If anything, bad weather just makes me appreciate the (few) days where the sun was actually shining and made me get my butt outside!

I kicked off April by helping the Pirates kick off their season; heading to the home opener game, it was worth it.  I also ran in a 10k race where, the morning of, we woke up to see actual, literal snow outside on the ground. All I could think was “this was a mistake” but we both powered through. I mean…Ben powered through. And I watched him collect his medal for 3rd place, pretty neat. Afterwords, I reminisced at the Wexford General Store.

Since this weather was pretty much a joke, I thought: what a great time to stay indoors and see some comedy! During the Burning Bridges Comedy Festival, I went and saw a comedy show for three days in a row.  I saw sketch comedy (the Philly team is amazing), an all-star hootenanny show, and an actual  Burning Bridges Comedy Festival show where Helen was performing. 

Tickets with Helen’s name on it…Look Martin, she’s made it!

Helbo’s professional festival pass.

Knock knock… who’s there?? Helen with some better jokes than this one!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I’m starting to become a huge fan of the non-event. Some of my other favorite moments included going to Cafe du Jour, Phipp’s Conservatory, the night a plant said “Hello back.” to helen, all the cherry blossoms, when Russian twists became freedom twists, getting invited to Joyce’s 70th birthday party, and a now a shout out to Katie Barbaro’s podcast: Showing Up Messy.

Hollywood visits Pittsburgh.

A non-event great night.

My first time at Eddie Merlots.

Hard to beat Pittsburgh in the SPRING!

Betting on children baseball games, we can’t get enough!

Just screen-shotting my own Snapchats.

So yes, April does come the many (snow) showers; however, every day I awoke to find more flowers than the day before.

Spring is my favorite,
‘mi

Even though Philidelphia is in the same state, I had never actually been there before this trip.  It felt like traveling; not a staycation since I was traveling five hours by car to a new city.  It was traveling. Spoiler alert: I think traveling in your own state is great!  

Map of Philly to help us tourists get around.

This was a very food-centered trip, and if you read any of my Greece blogs, just be warned that I’m doing a Philly cheesesteak showdown (inspired by the Greek salad ‘who wore it best’). 

Navigating our way through fish town.

We stopped at one market where there were a lot of Amish sellers. We tried all (ok, not all but a lot) of the baked goods they were selling…they were AMAZING. The Amish know how to make some pretty great desserts.  Chocolate chip whoopee pie is my all-time favorite. 

So now the moment I’ve been waiting to show you… THE CHEESESTEAK. To be honest, I wasn’t really expecting much from the Philly cheesesteak. Sure, I never doubted they were good, but were they really worth the hype? “Take a hint Sam” was on the case. The verdict is yes. Yes, the philly cheesesteaks are worth all of the hype. Here are the three that made it to the winner’s circle.

In third place, we have:

This delicious number from the famous Pat’s ,topped with some grilled onions. My mouth is watering just looking at it.

In second place, we have this fatter, fuller cheesesteak with some fries on the side.

This was the first cheesesteak of the trip.

And last, but of course not least (because it came in 1st place) is, drumroll please:

You can tell this is #1 just by looking at it.

This little number. Look at the onions, the peppers, the spinach, the cheese is super melty, and there’s a lot of it. You can’t blame me for choosing this as first– it even looks the part.

Nate loved the cheesesteak so much, he bought it flowers.

So, while we did do a lot of eating, Philadelphia does have a lot of history, and history is just as cool as food, right? Right.  And since history is so important, we decided to book tickets at Independence Hall. Easy enough… or so you’d think. When we actually showed up at our reserved time, we still had to wait in line for a bit. There were a lot of lines and a lot of people everywhere, and I was pretty sure (like 85% sure) that the line we were standing in was the correct one. But after standing in line for a while, and only a few minutes before our time slot, we figured out that we were in the wrong line, and we had to sprint to Independence Hall before we lost our reservation. Luckily, we made it there on time, and it became a funny little story of how we got to see Independence Hall instead of a not-so-funny little story about how I made everyone miss out on seeing Independence Hall because I was 85% sure we were standing in the right line, which was 100% the wrong line.

Made it to Independence Hall!

On our Philly history tour extravaganza, we also stopped at the Liberty Bell (of course). The bell was obviously pretty neat, but what was also fascinating was a machine in the giftshop that made a Liberty Bell coin out of your loose change; however, the fun thing about this machine was that it would give you extra money after it dispensed the Liberty Bell coin. Probably a flaw in the system, but definitely beneficial to anyone trying to make an extra two cents. Put in $1 and receive four quarters and two pennies!  Could this go on forever?? We considered standing by that machine all day.

This is a photo of the liberty bell from its better known angle and contains the smile of two people who just make an extra $0.02.

I had a great time walking around the city, soaking up the history, eatin’ some great cheesesteaks, watching improv, creating a scavenger hunt for Dana, daydreaming about how Odessa was spending this April Fools Day, about and enjoying the cherry blossoms blooming all around us. If you do visit: do not leave without getting a cheesesteak, even a vegetarian one. It’s for your own good. 

The new background on my home screen.

Let freedom ring,
‘mi

When I say “girls’ trip,” you might think of the usual suspect: Vegas. But nope!  Or, you may think of the actual movie, Girls Trip. And yes! For Colleens birthday destination, we traveled to a city with energy, abundance of life, and soul. And luckily for you, what happens there doesn’t have to stay there…it’s all in this blog. Think jazz, voodoo, mardi gras; the epicenter of vibrancy. Think, New Orleans!

The image that should pop into your head when you think of New Orleans.

Can you see the music in this photo?  Is it coming from the green or the black?  The black?  I love that!

So now before I continue, let me introduce to you the members of Team Team (that’s what we named the squad. Is it creative? Debatable. Is it original? Dubious. Is it catchy?  No doubt.  Is it fun? Absolutely).

The squad:

Lookin’ good!  “My one…er two true love(s).”.  — from you know who.

We wore these smiles all around town.

Introducing….Team Team!

We’re serving you The Beatles on Abbey Road realness.

Our wonderfully fun loving group consisted of yours truly and Nina, photography extraordinaire (almost every picture in this post was taken by her. And as you can see, the quality is amazing so I’m going to take a moment for some shameless friend promotion and say that you should check out her stuff at ninalaviva.com) Next part of the dream team is McKenzie, Colleen’s future roommate, coworker, and extra fun addition to the group; and last but not least, Colleen, my bestie, who brought us all together for the trip. McKenzie, Nina, and I didn’t know each other before this trip started, but knowing that (clearly) Colleen has great taste in friends, we were all really excited to meet each other.

We arrived at separate times, and even though it was for her birthday, Colleen showed us mad love by picking each of us up at the airport. We rented the car, which got nick-named the screaming b*tch mobile, and we went on our merry way to get to know each other and settle into the airbnb.

When we got there, Nina asked if we wanted to see her collection of indie movie DVDs, which she had laid out to display in the other room. The answer was no, but she was reaallllyyy eager for us to see the collection. After asking about it a couple more times (and us awkwardly finding excuses not to go see the collection), she found another reason to get us into the other room anyway and came back with a cake. It was then that we realized that it had never been about about the DVDs…she had been trying to surprise Colleen! Not only was this a super cute gesture, but we were also relieved that Nina wasn’t that into her DVD collection of indie movies.

So after playing some games (including the memorable Fresh air. Sitting in a chair.  No hair. #Don’tcare) and celebrating Colleen, all with a dawning realizing that we were going to have the best time together, we prepared ourselves for the excursions to come. The next day, we ended up on a swamp tour… because when in NOLA, right?

Swamp pig sittin’ pretty.

No alligators that we could see.

Lazy river cruise.

New swamp pals.

The swamp tour was very interesting to say the least. It was something I had done once before on a previous trip to New Orleans (you’ll read about it soon, don’t worry, folks. It’s only from last September, working on getting caught up.), but on the last one I hadn’t seen any mammels. It was neat to see the wildlife this time around.

Back to the car we changed clothes, added some lip color (!), and headed out for the day.  We ended up on Frenchman street and were inspired to have fun wherever we went.  I dared Collen to go take a bite of some random guy’s sandwich. I, of course, knew she would do it but was still excited to see her execution plan. She and the guy talked for 3 minutes and then, she looked straight at me and took, not one, but TWO large bites. So, Colleen was the truth or dare champion.

Back in the car on our way to some other shenanigans at home, sober Nina drove and I was the to copilot.  #shotgun  Nina was always several steps ahead of me.  For example, when I saw a car trying to merge, I would alert her 3 seconds after she already reacted. We passed a cop car, and I alerted her moments after she had seen it and we already safely passed. I used other car time to change every setting on the radio and air conditioning, just to make sure we were the most comfortable. Can’t wait to get into the car with her again.  It was a hilarious ride, and no one would question whether Nina will allow me to copilot again because she absolutely will.

Pilot questioning my decisions.

Pilot putting copilot in her place.

Pilot and copilot take the backseat.

SPARKLY SHOES AHD THEIR BIG DAY OUT

So, while we were not in New Orleans for Mardi Gras, we were there for St. Patrick’s Day. Same thing?  No. But still a party? You betcha. During our St. Patrick’s Day excursions, we found a pretty photogenic parking + photogenic women = photoshoot, so that is precisely what we decided to do. Here are some of the best shots:

Red brick to make the green pop!

Hugz N’ Smilez.

Beads N’ Stickerz.

Happy weirdos.

Birthday joy!

Schmoozing.

Snuggling!

Leeny helping me keep my whites white.

So after the photoshoot, our St. Patty’s Day spirits led us to Hunk Oasis…or did we end up at Hunk O’ Mania? Either way…the name isn’t important. What was important was what was inside!  The hunks!  This was our first time in a male strip club and it won’t be our last.

So I know that I said whatever happens in NOLA doesn’t have to stay there…but maybe some things should. Like the rest of these pictures!

One of my favorite nights, though, was when we went out, and due to volume, I waited outside of a club while the ladies danced.   I met this guy, and although I was tempted to do another round of truth or dare and make him take a bite of someone’s food à la Colleen, we ended up putting a little spin on the game…Introducing: Truth or Make Someone’s Life Better. The rest of the night, we did kind favors for people, took pictures of couples together when they needed a photographer instead of taking selfies, and nice things like that.  It was really fulfilling.

The next couple of days were filled with even more adventures. We went to brunch at a restaurant where you could make your own bloody Mary’s.

Birthday cake ordered for the birthday girl by the birthday girl.

The coolest guy in town, Uriah!

Nina, practically begging me to spill water on her.

Another standout event was the tarot card reading. Some of Team Team went to get their fortunes read, but apparently the tarot card reader wasn’t very intuitive and only told them things they already knew or things that weren’t true. Oh, and she farted the whole way through the reading.

While that was going on, I was also able to go see my favorite band called New Thousand. By accident.  I saw them the last time I was in New Orleans, and they were just as good this time. At the street side show, I also ran into a kid I met at summer camp yeeeears ago! Dimitri.  Talk about a throwback!

All around, there were so many laughs, so many dares, and three new formed friendships. It was a great trip, and I couldn’t have asked for a better team. Team Team, that is.

It was a prrriiiiiivilege to have met you ladies! 😉

#TeamTeam’sGoingHome

Love,
‘mi

Genuine hugs.

SUCH GOOD FOOD.

These glitter shoes, getting the attention they deserve.

We love our Colleen!

Nina takes the best photos in the whole world.

You’ll be seeing these ears again sometime soon…

Saying goodbye to Nola.

Sometimes doing the most mundane, everyday things can respark your love for your everyday life. I had been reading a book called Surprise, courtesy of Katie B, when I needed to go get my phone plan changed. For those of you who know me, I’ve been having a lack of data problem recently.  But for some reason, I couldn’t switch carriers it unless I paid extra, and the guy at T-Mobile literally gave me $11 out of his own pocket so that I could change my plan. Faith in humanity = RESTORED. It was such a nice gesture; it was something out of the ordinary even amidst the familiar. It reminded me that even at home, you can still have just as many adventures as when you’re abroad.  

Speaking of at-home adventures…I decided to pay it forward and do some Couchsurfing hosting since I had been so graciously hosted on the road. Maybe I’d even let a disheveled traveler with only one pair of pants do some laundry at my house if they needed. Turns out, the chore my visitor preferred was cooking (how’d I get so lucky?!) My Couchsurfer was from India, and he was happy to cook us some (amazing) Indian food.

Home-cooked Indian food? Yes, please!

And when he wasn’t cooking Indian food, he found and an amazing Indian restaurant and we went out for some more amazing Indian food…

Not home-cooked, but still…yes, please!

When in Rome! Or, when India comes to you!  Hanging out, the three of us, I really got to see Helens sense of humor translate across cultures.  (Another time, when we were watching the Olympics a guy from Georgia fell — “Well, he’s probably drunk”.)

Food seemed to be a reoccuring theme… For example, I celebrated Chinese New Year for the first time with a friend I knew through Ben. It was her first time celebrating her New Years in America, and she, too, was super into food (so we got along well), but she had a very…let’s say, artistic palette. She would make dumplings but add Doritos or whipped cream, she also make some cupcake dumplings.  It was a memorable Chines New Years for both of us.

But home-cooked food from abroad wasn’t the only fun thing I got to experience. I was also fortunate enough to watch Helen do standup (it was hilarious, and I’m not just saying that because she’s my best friend. I’m saying it because she paid me to. Just kidding). She’s so professional; I’m always beaming with pride while watching the show.

Wish I could capture both the joke and the audience’s laughter in a picture.

Everyone’s pretty much clapping specifically for Helen…right? Yes. Even Helen is clapping for Helen.

Besides the standup, another standout during those first few weeks back was when Andy drove in from Cleveland. Tony organized a tabletop game for me, Ben, Jodi, Julie, Andy, and we all had a blast. We also spent two nights in a row at the Banff Mountain Film Festival (so good), and ended our time with spontanious fireworks from the Pirates game, which made the whole experience feel even more magical.

With smiles like these, it must be game night.

Flag football.  Taking a 5…or a 10…or a 60-min. break.

One crazy memorable (or not memorable) night at Cantley’s it was Andrews birthday party 🙂 I won’t go into details but it’s not because I can’t remember them.

Stalker pic of the fam from above. But really, check out that massive bag of peanuts in the top right hand corner.

My mom took me to an anti-assault rifle rally in Pittsburgh, she made signs, and we marched in solidarity with the Parkland victims.  It was really inspiring to be around so many people who felt the same way we did. She’s a great mom.

No lies here…

Alex and Emily telling them to put your $$ where your thoughts & prayers are.

Overall, it’s been amazing to be back. Other than Newt Gingrich who is the worst.  Like I said earlier, there are definitely adventures hidden all around home. It would probably be poetic to say “you just have to go look for them,” but really, you don’t always. Even at home, sometimes the adventures just come to you in the simplest of forms. I don’t think you necessarily have to find them; you just have to appreciate them. It makes me think of the quote from Seinfeld: “I’ve come to think that the non-event is the best part of life.”

Full of non-events,
‘mi