Chocolate Fondue at Dante's Down the Hatch

I love winter because I get to wear my sexy boots. I really do feel sexy in them. The older gentleman is Dante himself. I like older men. :)

Live, Freeze, or Die

So I went up to New England this past week, visiting several states. We started in New Hampshire (who's state motto is Live Free or Die...but the people there prefer the other motto). Here's our first night in New Hampshire, staying at an old Victorian inn...we were hoping it would be haunted.

 
(Strawberry & mango salad with candied ginger)

 

The next day we drove to Portsmouth on the coastal border of New Hampshire and Maine. The old town center was so cute with boutiques and waterfront restaurants.

 

My friend and I then also spent time in Connecticut. We had a quick stop at Mystic Seaport and then drove around to find a beach.

 

On our way, we also stopped at a farm stand which sold fresh fruits and vegetables. We bought some lovely local blueberries and couldn't resist this beautifully scrumptious home-made peach berry pie!

 

We found a small restaurant on a Rhode Island beach for some classic New England seafood!

 
(Friend clams and lobster roll with sweet potato fries)

(My friend couldn't resist dipping her toes in the Atlantic)

Buffalo Wings

I was in Buffalo, NY this week for a conference. Besides for being known as the birth place for buffalo wings and the gateway into Niagara Falls, there's not much else. It was pretty depressing since everywhere I went there signs that the city is slowing dying. It once was a major top ten city is the US, but within the later half of the century has fallen on hard times. As I walked through the empty lots and buildings for rent, I could still see the beautiful architecture that had once put this city on the map.

 

I got to explore the huge city hall, which was eerily empty.

 

Also went to see the Pierce-Arrow car museum. I don't know much about cars, but that red Thunderbird was drool worthy.

 

And of course, when in Rome...or rather, Buffalo, you have to eat wings at the Anchor Bar!

Formosa

We recently traveled to Taiwan to visit family and the trip turned into an eating fest...which always seems to happen.  This is only my second trip to JW's homeland and it was great to see all the relatives.  We were taken to several unique places along with some interesting food, so here's a quick recap.

For a more in-depth photo gallery, go here.

 

Favorite Places
(Public hot springs foot bath, Yehliu Park, National Palace Museum, Taroko Gorge, Shinto temple, Shilin night market)

 

Favorite Foods
(Shaved ice with red bean and taro, Oyster omelettes, Steamed pork buns; Shaved ice with mango and custard, Sesame meat buns, Onion pancake)

 

Favorite Photos
(Cleansing fountain at Shinto temple, Ceramic exhibit at Taiwan Modern Art Museum, Family at Pine Garden, Making sesame wraps, Entrance at Confucius temple)

Next

K and I are moving on to the next stage of our lives. . .OUT OF THE BOONIES! FINALLY! We're moving up to NY for a year then onto St. Louis. . .The packing/moving process is inducing frequent panic attacks, so K and I have been finding other distractions to avoid the unavoidable. Hence I am finally blogging :)

I got sick of my long hair and entrusted some random stylist in Barcelona to chop it off for me. I'm sure the stylist was on drugs - he kept asking me to point out which hair style I wanted and his cutting method was just madness. My momma thought he was a design genius when she saw him cutting some other girl's hair and I guess he is artsy but perhaps too crazy for me. Check it out.

I was extremely nervous when K kept saying "INteresting. . ." while the cut was in process. I finally realized the sides & back were unusual - it kinda looked like a modified bowl haircut from the front. Oh well, at least hair grows out!

Other images from Barcelona/Bilbao. . .

Short story for the Sagrada Familia pic above. . .K had to get down real low to take the pic of me with the building in the background, but it was absolutely hilarious to see the guy next to us get down that low. That guy had some skills!

With the wacky hair, I have been leaning towards more androgynous/monochromatic-ish outfits. I finally wore a Pleats Please mini from my momma (I wimped out and just wore them with leggings, nothing special) and asked K if I looked presentable for church. His comment was yeah, for NY but not for here!

Bye bye to the boonies! The only things I will miss about this place is:

1) The spicy jaja mein from this korean restaurant in town

2) Lack of traffic here

3) The super-casual restaurant down the road (we're talking park benches, paper plates, and graffiti encouraged everywhere) that serves tons of fried seafood.

Just 10 more days!

I have a time machine...it runs on booze and sadness and only travels to tomorrow.

So today's post is about randomness - hence the random quote above and the random pictures below that were taken in the past few weeks.

 

During Tibet week at Emory, prayer flags were strung across the quad:

 

 

I was early to class (for once):

 

JW made breakfast for me - egg and onion pancake with turkey sausages:

 

My friend and I went to see the Terracotta Soldiers exhibit at the High Museum:

Running of the Brides...minus the mayhem

Vintage

Wow, I've been MIA recently! I've been too lazy to put together new outfits and rarely read my favorite fashion blogs. I did get off my butt finally, and wore this vintage dress I got in NY over Thanksgiving last year. . .

I think it was homemade, and it fits like it was tailored for me. . .too tailored in fact, because the tummy area was feeling a little tight after lunch. I don't know if the pleats are chemically treated or just ironed to stay put, but it's fun to twirl and see the skirt fan out. I'm also wearing vintage white rose beads borrowed from my momma.

Hey, my eyes look kinda bigger than usual in the 1st pic right? K told me to open my eyes wide :)

Miracle on 2nd Street

It snowed! It's still snowing! First time this year in the south, so of course we had to go take pictures.

Happy Birthday Isis!!

We celebrated Isis' birthday tonight even though her real birthday was on the 10th. Her party was at WhirlyBall, which is a combination of lacrosse, hockey and basketball with bumper cars!! There was also lots of cake and beer...hilarity ensued.

anger is but one letter away from danger

I forgot where I saw this quote, but it made me laugh. You know what else makes me laugh...Cash Cab. The quiz show that takes place in a NYC taxi cab. It's on Discovery Channel and I rush home to watch it after work every day. I always root for the nice contestants and the elderly ones. Every time I'm in NYC, I'm constantly on the look-out for the taxi in hopes of being on the show (and I promise that if I get on, I will not go "wooo!!" after each correct answer - that really irritates me).

  

Outfit: JCrew sweater, BR skirt, Seychelles shoes

Dacryostenosis - also known as a blocked tear duct

Sigh...my blocked tear duct has made me wear glasses since Christmas and it's getting to me. This is the longest I've had to go without my contacts since middle school and they make me feel frumpy. I tried to wear something preppy and ended up looking like a school-girl, but in a bad way. HA!

 

Here's my outfit from this weekend when we visited the land of Mickey again. We went down to pick up Caleb, who is regretting having to come up to cold weather and no more yummy snacks.