Wednesday, November 28, 2012

This is the Maine Event

On Monday Jamie and I took a little day trip into Maine! We didn't go very far (and we didn't even get lobster, poo!) but we still had a fun day. =) We got some authentic New England "Chowdah." I totally regret not getting a lobster roll... New England chowder is not the same in San Francisco. ;) Then we found a completely abandoned beach town... seasonal tourism is not in the West Coast vocabulary. =P

Lunch from Scarborough Fish & Lobster Co.
The empty pier

Very eerie... New England is full of ghosts, methinks.
We got some beautiful photos! I think the Atlantic is actually bluer than the Pacific...
We've been watching LOTS of Netflix... "How I Met Your Mother" and "American Horror Story" are the two series we're in the middle of... American Horror Story had a great start, but as Jamie puts it, it has become "Days of Our Afterlives" haha. How I Met Your Mother is pretty hilarious... we've adopted the game "Zitchdog" for our car rides. We are currently at 14-4 (Jamie's lead, no surprise, but the game is FAR from over, mwahah!)

Yesterday I FINALLY broke the slump and spit out four awesome Christmas cards, and today I finished them up at Brewbakers in Keene! =) Tonight: Netflix & pancakes for dinner. Tomorrow: more art!

I'm a bit stressed because we haven't figured out yet what we're going to be doing the next few weeks until we can take my brother home. But it'll work out... hopefully. =P

Saturday, November 24, 2012

After Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving was nice. =) Quiet, cold (heater is still acting up), delicious, with lots of Sufjan Stevens Christmas Music and many episodes of "How I Met Your Mother".

 

We made a 10 pound Turkey, an apple pie, cranberry sauce, gravy, brussels sprouts, and mashed potatoes... all from scratch. =) Oh, and we got some local wine (what is up with East Coast wines??? They taste like grape juice!! Good thing they sell Napa wines over here).

We both missed our families a lot. =( I can't wait to come home for Christmas!!

And then there was Black Friday.


We have a Black Friday tradition. We stay home, eat leftovers, and refuse to make any transactions. I was going to write a big post about how evil Black Friday is, but luckily the internet at the house is spotty at best and it gave me time to cool off. =P

Continuing in the spirit of thankfulness, here are a few things I wrote down over the course of November that I am very very thankful for:

cold weather to usher in the holidays • my husband, who still loves me even though I'm impossibly moody • families and friends who love and support us  the ability to vote for whoever I want • cozy coffee shops to hang out in • warm fireplaces & down comforters • modern plumbing • the postal system • the enormous diversity of culture, thought, and landscape in the usa • paper products & office supplies • the internet • pets • snow!

It just started snowing... that's our signal to grab some greasy diner food and groceries, head home, and start a fire! =)

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

A Weekend in PA (Photodump!)

[Due to the large bulk of photos in this post, I am a day late in publishing it! So this was written yesterday.] ;)

Lots to share today! I took tons of pictures and we managed to fit a lot into a very short span of time, haha! So go refill your tea or coffee, get comfy, and dig in:

This weekend I got a chance to meet one of my penpals face to face and not just in a mailbox! The Snail Mailer and I have been corresponding through the postal system since June of 2011, and she very graciously offered to host us for a bit on our travels! I'm so glad I took her up on that offer... it was great to meet her in person, and she made sure we got a great taste of East Pennsylvania!

On our way to meet up with B, we stopped in Gettysburg. We only did the self/driving tour and so got a very very basic overview of the battle, but it was still neat to see. We did check out some of the displays of weapons and uniforms at the Visitor Center as well. The Civil War is a weird war. A lot of people are really into it... to the point of glorifying it. The only glory I see is that we were somehow able to recover from it in unity, which I guess is why it is so remarkable after all.

I say, this is a beautiful place for a battle! 
Cannons!
Soldier Cemetery Memorial Statue


I'll mention just a few of the many things we did with B... she took us on the scenic route along the Delaware to the Ringing Rocks! A bizarre phenomenon... If you hit them they ring like they were made of metal. The weirdest thing to me was that there was just a giant pile of them in the middle of the woods. I like to think aliens did it. ;)

Jamie blends right in.
That's no ordinary pile of rocks!
We also got to admire quite a lot of junk & treasures at B's favorite consignment shop! Oooh how I wish I had a home to decorate and money to do it with. ;) The main event of the day was visiting the Moravian Pottery & Tile Works factory and Fonthill, two places built by Henry Chapman Mercer, who I consider the East Coast version of William Randolph Hearst... they both took trips to Europe when they were boys which had a huge impact on them, both came from wealth, both built crazy castles, and both were rather eccentric in their own ways. I personally like Mr. Mercer better of the two, because he was an artist who glorified the past (as I am wont to do). He was part of the Arts & Crafts movement, which was marked by its resistance to the Industrial Revolution. I see the same thing happening in it's own form today, and I find that interesting. Plus his castle was way cooler than Hearst's... unfortunately we couldn't take pictures inside the castle, but I got some of the outside and of the tile factory, which was also quite a treat. The factory still produces tiles using the same technique, just with newer firing ovens. ;)

Outside of the Moravian Tile Works
A sample of Mercer's work 
Mr. Mercer would collect old stuff and hang it on any spare surface... he also catalogued EVERYTHING, with the intent that it would be used in a museum someday.
Beautiful clay tiles!
Even the columns were decorated... Also, everything he built was made with hand-mixed cement. He had his builders use natural wood on the columns, so they had the imprint of the wood grain on them.
New tiles being made!
The outside of Fonthill, his castle with more than 40 rooms. It was a beautiful maze of color, light and art... I wish I could have explored the whole thing! Mercer had a great sense of lighting and made sure that each room took full advantage of natural sunlight.
I enjoyed geeking out over crafts & mail art with B... she has a HUGE stash of stationary, and she handed me a box and let me fill it to the brim with beautiful cards and papers! I was in heaven... She also gave me an entire sheet of this year's Christmas stamps! Wow! B is also great at reusing materials into new and awesome things and her letters are never simply paper in envelopes... each piece of mail from her is a great surprise. =) I was inspired! Another reason I can't wait to settle down... more mail! (Thanks Dad for forwarding the few pieces we do get, and thanks to the penpals who keep writing despite the delay in my responses!!) ;)

We also got to enjoy all of B's critters... her old pup Sparky warmed up to us and soon was crawling into our laps for belly rubs. Alphonse the kitten (whose name was inspired by an Alphonse Mucha envelope I made & had sent to B!) kept us all entertained... Sloopy was paranoid about us all weekend, but he did come get some scratches & pets a few times, and Micky the Matriarch pretty much sat around looking pretty, haha. I love homes with pets. <3 br="br"> Long story short, we had a great weekend! =)

Alphonse found my suitcase right away...
Sloopy keeping a safe distance.
Micky (and Alphonse photobombing)
Sparky came on all of the day's adventures! =)
And we made it to New Hampshire. So far we haven't lost any toes to frostbite, but it is threatening, haha! No snow, but we woke to a frosty wonderland nonetheless!

SO BEAUTIFUL

And so cold...

We plan to get a lot of relaxing (and a lot of art & work!) done these next few weeks! I'll try to remember to update (shouldn't be a problem since I have no schedule to speak of, woo!). Today the plan is to stock up on food, get more stamps, mail some stuff (I wrote a bunch of letters & postcards this morning... see? inspired!), make soup for dinner and be cozy.

TTFN!

Friday, November 16, 2012

Away To Pennsylvania!

Today we say goodbye to Maryland and hello to Pennsylvania! We had a great stay with Barry and Tod on their beautiful farm! Mornings were spent in coffee shops around town (Jamie is working on his school applications) and evenings were spent by the warm fire playing chess or talking about the day. Some good news: I got my asthma under control, and I am in the final round of another contest!

Last night we used up a few butternut squashes, grown in the garden outside, for butternut squash soup and Jamie's famous butternut squash bread braid. We also had some brussels sprouts (yay!). Everything turned out pretty good I think. =)

Some pictures.. sorry they're crappy... I took them as we were driving by (it's too cold to be outside, haha).




Today we are going to meet my penpal The Snail Mailer! We will be staying with her for a couple of nights before we head up to New Hampshire... I've never met any of my penpals face to face before, so I am excited. =)

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Quick Update (+/-)

Good (+) and bad (-) things to report!

+ We made it to Maryland! It was a beautiful drive,

- but we got a flat tire in Virginia

+ after we had dinner at our favorite fast food (Five Guys!)

- which is the second flat we've had to completely replace this trip. So that was was annoying and stressful.

- And it made us late, so we snuck into our host's home like thieves in the night... but

++ Barry left us a little trail of notes to find our way around the place! They have a BEAUTIFUL old farmhouse and they have horses scattered serenely around the place (which are owned by friends). Very idyllic!

- But it's freezing. Californians do not know the meaning of the word "cold" haha. Jamie doesn't think it's that bad, but he's covered in built-in fur. Though I have no excuse with all my extra "insulation" too, haha. =P

- I tried to go on a run but I forgot my inhaler. And my asthma has been really bad and is getting worse (I have to take two doses every couple of hours... before it was just before exercise). So I have to go fill my prescription of my expensive medicine. =( Come on, Lungs! Not in the budget!! =P

+ We are now nestled in a coffee house/restaurant in downtown Middletown to use the internet & get stuff DONE! Jamie is applying to schools and I'm going to do some art.

Bottom Line: We are safe and warm and well fed with wi-fi. All is well.

Pictures soon! This place is too gorgeous not to document with photographs!!

Saturday, November 10, 2012

MUST DEFEAT THE G.R.E.

Right now Jamie is across town taking the G.R.E. It's only been like 45 minutes since he's left and I don't know what to do with myself... we have literally been under the same roof for the last two months. I can't remember the last time we were more than 200 feet away from each other, haha. It is very strange... But I have the internet to keep me occupied (and some other stuff I should be doing).

The Math Subject G.R.E. (which Jamie is currently taking) is an evil monstrosity of a test that has kicked many a mathematician in the butt. It has quite a reputation. Jamie has taken it before so he knows what to expect, and he has been studying like a beast! It's hard for me to encourage him because I don't know anything about math so he doesn't really believe me when I tell him he's the best. =P But I really do think his hard work will pay off.

In the back of my mind I am constantly dreaming of the future, counting down the days until May when we will know for sure if we're in or if we're out. I sincerely hope and pray that it's the former, and that we will be on our way to our new home in a few months. Since we are not strangers to disappointment in this regard, we have been inventing a few alternatives to the grad school path (for now... I don't think Jamie will get that out of his system for a long while). The latest involves opening a Pie & Coffee Shop because Jamie has been making lots of delicious pies lately... we made an apple pie together the other day (Jamie made the crust and I made the filling) and it turned out to be quite miraculous! We ate the last of it today for breakfast. ;)

Pie!
Yesterday we got a grand historical tour of Nashville from my Uncle Bill, which was very interesting! He knows so much about everything in this town... it's crazy. My favorite story was a local legend about a girl who committed suicide by jumping into the river. The story goes that her lover brought the rock she jumped from to the cemetery and placed a lantern on it because she was afraid of the dark. He would light the lantern every night so she wouldn't be afraid. A little online research revealed the story to probably be nothing but a legend, but there is still a lot of mystery surrounding this particular grave. I think it's beautiful and I love cemeteries and tragic stories, so that was my favorite bit. =)

Ann Sanders Grave
via
Aunt Chris has made dinner every night (and we have not been disappointed... everything is quite delicious!) and we've enjoyed hanging out with them in the evenings. Chris has lots of wisdom to share and Bill has lots of stories, so they are really fun to talk to. =)


Today I think we may splurge a little and maybe get lunch and see a movie to celebrate the G.R.E. being done (for now...). I vote Wreck-It-Ralph or Skyfall... but Sinister is also playing still in Nashville. SCARY. We shall see.

We are here today and tomorrow then we head over to Maryland for a few days!

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

I Declare Today a Grand Success

STOP! Are you fed up with politics? Then read no further and skip down to the cute drawing below (which I swear has no political affiliation despite the mention of tea). The least I could do is give you a chance to be spared of my ravings. ;) This was brought on by the things people have chosen to post on their facebook statuses, because that is the only contact I have with like 90% of the people in my life. =P

While many of my friends and family flooded my facebook feed with apocalyptic prophesies about MO'bama for four more years, I happily went about my business (well... I was sad that Ron Paul didn't win, but I'm also sad that I can't shape-shift into a horse, and I'm not going to let that spoil my fun). Honestly people, ya'll act like the poor man is Hitler reincarnated. I'd like to see you run the country! Actually, I take that back... that would be a disaster. ;) Seriously though, just four more years and then we get to have this big crazy party all over again. Brother against brother! Mother-in-law against daughter-in-law! Fathers against sons! O, the humanity!

What is really disappointing to me is to see what bad losers ya'll are. I get about as excited about politics as I do about sports, but people everywhere treat both of those things like God (except when our sports team loses we just hang our heads and sigh, but when our politician loses, we act like it's literally the end of the world). One thing in particular that really gets me going is when church-going, [facebook-proclaimed] Christians act like cornered animals, foaming at the mouth, full of hate and anger, and underneath the anger is nothing but fear (the Dark Side, people, we all know this!!).

Where is your faith? I exhort you, brothers and sisters, to remember who is really in charge. The things men do on earth are all under God's command. Nothing would exist, therefore nothing would come about, if God were not fully involved at every moment. He is not a passive observer. Sustain is a verb, and the Lord sustains everything. He makes the world go 'round. You would not take another breath but by His will and mercy. So... Are you going to accept that God wants Obama in office and has a good reason for it (which He may or may not divulge to us), or are you going to claim you have a better plan than the Almighty's? It is a good and beautiful thing to use your right to vote, but it is blasphemy to lose hope and spread fear and hate when the one you picked was not elected.

I would like to make one more point. Having spent the last few weeks with Conservative households and Liberal households, I would like to give you both some advice: just talk to each other and seek to understand. Stop drawing battle lines and stop making straw men out of each other. You have way more similarities than you think. Better yet, we should all register as independents and forget the damn party system altogether. HAH. That'll be the day.

Ahem... No more politics. Dang, I told myself I wouldn't get worked up on this blog... just happy reports about our happy travels, right? So back to the happy travels.



When Jamie and I weren't lamenting the human condition, we were enjoying ourselves immensely in various coffee shops, in quiet afternoons inside our warm house with rainy weather outside, and in the company of our hosts in Nashville. Yesterday I wrote that we visited the Frothy Monkey, today we walked over to "Portland Brew" (tagline: A Taste of the Northwest) which was better suited to us and our choice of occupations while at coffee shops. It was strange to have the region we're from being used as a brand in a different region, haha! Anyway, we spent about three hours there this morning, studying and drawing. I got a lot of work done on my Art-House Co-Op Sketchbook as well as a few just for fun (like the one above, which I finished off after I got home).

My Uncle Bill took Jamie and I out to Indian food (YUM!!) and then took us on a little tour of the surrounding neighborhoods. He knows a lot about the area... I look forward to the full tour of Nashville! Jamie and I spent the rest of the afternoon still studying and drawing... and we went over to the main house for dinner and conversation with my Great Aunt & Uncle.

Today was a great day. If I could repeat this day over and over again I would (minus the post-election rampage on facebook... though I guess if I did get stuck in an endless loop of this day I would quickly learn to turn off all forms of communication with the outside world). =P

Yay, Nashville! =D

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Pet Post: Princess & Suzette

Uncle Grant and Aunt Jyl in Austin, TX have some awesome critters. I love tortoiseshell kitties and I am a new fan of Boxers. ;) I wanted to take both these ladies home with me!! Having pets is an added bonus to this whole vagabonding thing. I really enjoy it.

Meet Princess & Suzette!

Suzette is the tortie kitty... She is super friendly and super sweet and she loves to play. I've never met a more good-natured cat. It helps that my cousin Brooke keeps her nails trimmed, because she plays rough, and I don't think I would love her as much as I do if she had claws, haha.


Princess is their Boxer! Princess doesn't hold still much... She likes to know what's going on and she loves to be a part of the family. She has the sweetest expressions and you can always tell right away if she did something bad, haha.


She likes to snuggle by tucking her face into you, haha.

We were really blown away by the generosity and care we were given by our Austin Cole family! I hope we can go back to visit again soon. =)

Nashville is great so far! We were missing out on the fall weather in Austin (still in the 80s and humid, bleh!) and there are still some leaves on the trees up here. Definitely feels like fall! Trees are aflame and it's drizzly and cold... just the way I like it. =) We went on a run today and checked out the Frothy Monkey for some coffee and cocoa. I've been doodling and Jamie's been studying (GRE on Saturday!). Tomorrow we might go check out some of the sights, and I hope to get back into the comic stuff or have some other art to show!

We are really missing our friends and families back home... I knew I would miss home but I didn't think I'd miss familiarity so much. I can say I am a bit of a "novelty" junkie... I like to have something new and fresh to keep me occupied at all times (it's an addiction fulfilled superficially by the internet in most cases). But I've realized that true novelty or "newness" is actually not as pleasant as I thought. When the only stability you get is from one person and a car full of stuff it's a little bit disorienting, haha. I guess what I'm saying is it will be nice to settle down a bit when this grand adventure is through, and I don't think I could make this a lifestyle. I'll leave that for someone better equipped to make a life on the road. ;)

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Life in Austin

So for Halloween we went over to my first-cousin-once-removed Kate's house for soup chili (which in Texas is chili with beans, which is just what chili is in California) and some trick or treating with baby Grant (my second cousin) who is adorable. Jamie made a reappearance as Joaquin Phoenix (I practically had to beat people off him, he was a hit) and I buzzed my hair again and went as G.I. Jane.

See, I told you Baby Grant was adorable.
A few of my cousins and us went out to Sixth Street, which is nationally infamous, but especially for Halloween. Luckily it was a little tamer being a Wednesday and we could keep our group together fairly well (even after a few drinks) as we wound our way through the crowds. I wish we had spent more time people watching and less time bar hopping, but oh well.

Cousin Kate (dressed as a witch but lost her hat within 30 minutes of arriving downtown, haha), Baby Grant (was an astronaut), me, Jamie, Cousin-in-law Brooke (Corpse Bride)!
Brooke trying on the Mario Head... and Paul, Kate's husband (who went as a "hippie," haha)
I spent most of Thursday recovering from Wednesday (we were out til 2:30am, blergh... my recovery consisted mostly of reorganizing my Pinterest boards... I am ashamed), and in the evening we had a delicious dinner of steak and roasted veggies to celebrate my cousin Alex's birthday! Uncle Grant is really good at making steak... yum! It was a lot of fun, I am so glad we are able to get to know my cousins because they are awesome. =)

Friday we went out shooting (which I did not enjoy) and then we got real Texas BBQ. BBQ in California means grilled meat. BBQ in Texas means, very specifically, smoked brisket or ribs, and it is DELICIOUS. Don't you ever use to term "BBQ" around me unless you mean smoked brisket or I will give you a very dirty look. I didn't much care for shooting, at least not in an indoor range (I might try again if the shooting is happening outdoors)... it was loud and intimidating and guns are freaking POWERFUL... I do not ever want to get shot. Nor do I ever want to shoot anything. =P Unless maybe they are trying to kill me, in which case I'm very glad I kind of know how to shoot a handgun.

Today Uncle Grant and Aunt Jyl took us on a little driving tour of Austin, which was very nice. We saw the UT campus and the Capitol building, and Lake Travis. Then we went grocery shopping in a fancy store (SO MUCH WINE AND CHEESE! If I could only shop one place the rest of my life, let it be there) to get stuff for dinner that Jamie and I are making tonight! We are doing a repeat because it was so good in Redding: Homestyle Mac N Cheese with beer bread, sausage, asparagus and homemade pumpkin pie for dessert!

It was a whirlwind week... I can't believe we're leaving tomorrow morning already! We had a lot of fun in Austin, and (I sound like a broken record) I wish we could stay longer... We barely scratched the surface of this city and I'm sad to leave even MORE awesome relatives. =(

Onward to Nashville!