Boston, Massachusetts

I have one word of advice.  If you haven't been to Boston, GO!  It is such a welcoming, friendly, fun city and so easy to navigate.  There were bounds of street acts.  We literally walked the same block four times and found new adventures around every corner.  Government Center (Govy if you ask the locals) became an instant favorite.  

I have an obsession with flash mobs.  The idea of tons of people coming together to entertain a crowd is pure amazement to me.  Britt and I walked straight into a flash mob and my response was to burst into tears.  It was a little something like this reaction... 

How do you top a flash mob on your first day in Boston?  Well, I'm not sure you can but the best way to recover from a night of drinks at Top of the Hub with friends is by going on a Boston Duck Tour.  

Sit back, relax, and let (in our case, Ray) your Duck guide show you the way.  From land to water and a few quacks in between.  If you love playing tourist, I definitely recommend it. 

                                  

Fully recovered, we headed to dinner at Bella Luna and the Milky Way Club.  Unbeknownst to Britt or myself our dinner spot turned into a Latin Dance Club at 11:00pm.  Of course we had to stay and take full advantage of the opportunity.  After we found a little courage and joined our new friends in the club we bolted once we realized our lack of Latin dance knowledge.    

The Beehive was definitely more our scene and we loved it even more when the drink list consisted of FOUR pages of champagne options.     

A trip to Boston is not complete without an afternoon at Harvard. Our attempts to look like students was unsuccessful once we realized all the legitimate students were inside studying and the rest of the campus was covered with tourists and visitors, like ourselves.  This did not stop us from purchasing real and true Harvard memorabilia, or sneaking into a building to play student when we found an unlocked door.  

The rest of the trip was pure amazement.  When you visit, because you will, be sure to visit all of these places... 

                Best Views of Boston                 

Have to Take This Tour

Best Speak Easy and Drink List

Holy Cannoli

Yummy Italian

Must Have Brunch

Delicious Oysters and More

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Oh, and what's a trip blog without a few photos!?!?

Expect to see photos from Fenway and the Sam Adams Brewery on my next adventure to Boston! 

Washington, DC

I've only been excited for my trip to DC for, IDK, 8-10 months.  Yes, seriously, sooo excited.  So excited in fact that I have been considering what to pack for the past... 8-10 months.  Those who saw me in DC can tell you this is not true.  In reality I got a bit tipsy drunk Wednesday night and ended up packing anything that included lace, jewels, and sequences.  I may have also taken 8 cardigans (I'm obsessed), a pile of work out clothes because yeah right that was going to happen on vacation, and shoes that matched none of the outfits.  I packed less on the 10 day road trip I took with Andrew and Pheobe last summer than I did for our four day DC adventure.  Chalk it up to the Sauvignon Blanc.

Regardless of the fact that I had nothing appropriate to wear, only half a day of work and a five hour drive stood between our reunion on Thursday.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to go on the day long trip to Gettysburg this day but I hear Pheobe and Andrew had a great time.  haha.

Chinatown, a few brewskies, and a quick catch up with my friend Cara and suddenly it's 2am and against a certain Irishman's will, the bars were closing.  A few photos from the evening as a recap... 

Friday was spent... get ready... can you handle this... I'm not sure you can... BOWLING!  You just can't make these things up.  Best yet, somehow I managed to WIN a game.  I'd like to think that my pure skill alone is what allowed me the big "W" but in reality it was  probably the fact that 100% of the time the machine gave me a free pin. Yes, even inanimate objects want to help me win this game called life.  Bowling alleys also love hipster cardigan wearing, pink running shorts sporting, tennis shoes loving outfits.  Proof! 

hipster glasses are probably not the best look for either of us

SCORE!!!  91 points.  Winning

If you've never been to Old Town Alexandria, go.  It is the sweetest little place and has my name written all over it.  It is one of the most adorable towns and I could legit live there.  I can see it now, walking Tucker down main street, lunch outside by the water, live music on the promenade.  Oh, and they have boats... lots of them!  After dinner at Virtue Feed & Grain where I would no doubt dine again (recommendations include the monkfish, duck, and chicken or in reality anything on the menu) we took a Potomac River Cruise.  You can book your cruise here.  Initially you think you have to sit at the back of the boat but you don't!  Stick to the front and soon you'll be soaring high like Jack and Rose from Titanic.  We took the 45 minute tour to Georgetown but you can take a round trip tour if you'd prefer.  

From here on we pounded them out for the night.  Oh, and danced... let's never forget the dancing.  Bless Andrew's heart, by the time he was really starting to bring his "fresh moves to the streets" the DJ shut him down.  Apparently 3am is starting time for the Irish but closing time for us Americans.

please in the future warn me of the shiny t-spots 

Just when we thought the day was wasted on Saturday Andrew forced me out of the hotel and down past the largest book club in the country toward our good ol' friend Abe.  Abe's my favorite president so I didn't mind paying him a visit.  A bit of trivia: if they built Abraham Lincoln's monument standing he would be 28 feet tall!  Betcha' didn't know that.  We listened to a spirited fellow on the steps of the memorial, took ridiculously amazing photos with the Washington Monument, and had a personal bible reading (I do not lie about bible readings).  God said it was good.

 

I'm really funny!

Another struggle with the evening outfit and a delicious dinner at Pheobe's and the remaining four or six or nine hours were spent on the town.  Curious about what happened?  ME too!  The only ideas I have are from the two following photos and it appears as though I had a great time!  I learned this night that door men and old men love me.  

We took a nice hike late Sunday afternoon after much needed four hour power naps (again the day was not wasted) and had a delicious cookout at Victoria's house.  I, of course, was in an ultimate trough at this point and was not much help.  

I tried to go home sometime early afternoon on Monday.  Before I hit the road, Andrew offered to go with me to get some gas so we headed to the car.  We got in, buckled up, and off we went nothing happened! The car wouldn't start.  Seriously wouldn't start.  Just a few noises and nothing else.  Our immediate response... laughter.  We sat in the car for at least 10 minutes laughing.  No words and almost no breathing.  Finally after composing ourselves we walked back into Pheobe's to give her the news... again no words, almost no breathing, but this time tears flowing off of our faces all to say that the car wouldn't start.  Big thanks to Trish and David for getting AAA for Pheobe's last birthday, to Pheobe for letting me use a free jump, and to Hushong for hooking me up.  

Now I'm back in North Carolina dancing to bubblegum oldies by myself, opening my own doors, walking down stairs without assistance, and pumping my own gas.  Good news is that I rule over all the creatures that creepeth the earth because God said it was so. 



Newport Beach, California

What a whirlwind of a weekend we just had in Southern California celebrating Sheila and Casey.  The weekend began on Thursday when I landed in Santa Ana at 4pm west coast time.  Of course I was too antsy to sit at the hotel and wait for the arrival of more friends so I decided to take a 1.5 mile walk to the beach to watch the sunset.  There is nothing like a sunset over the ocean, well, except when you realize that your 1.5 mile trip back home is going to have to happen in the dark.  Legs were already stiff from the flight and sore because of my bad decision to take this 3 mile excursion in a pair of flat sandals that had no support... at all.  Cuteness over comfort, right?  Not anymore, just ask the large blister that formed on the sole of my foot that night.  Thanks Laur for the straight pin. 

A few photos of the sunset.  Gorgeous.  

The evening ended with drinks at a local dive that will remain nameless and me laughing in hysterics at the couple sitting next to us clearly on a first date.  Chalk it up to jet lag and exhaustion. 

Friday morning I woke bright and early (5:30am) and for two hours wished Lauren and Drew awake.  FINALLY!  Quick change into bathing suits and an extremely important stop at Pavillions for champagne, orange juice, and beer and we're off to the beach.  Thanks goes to Drew for the idea for doses and mimosas on the beach.  Thanks to Pavillions for having jumbo sized champagne bottles chilled for our drinking pleasure.  Plastic cups from the hotel and we were good to go spending hours on the beach sipping champagne and catching up with friends.  

On a random side note, this small, silver, four door, hatchback Kia Rio was the ideal driving machine.  It purrred like a kitten and I'm considering a trade.  We loved it so much we had to snap photos with the silver bullet. 

                                      

                                      



Sheils and Casey thought of it all and had a big street BBQ Friday night for friends and family.  Three houses lined with grills, kegs, and amazingly fun people.  A little dancing, a lot of talking, and without a doubt a little picture taking.  I was also fortunate enough to be "deputized" Friday night by the Sheriff himself and am now the proud Deputy of a two block radius around Sheila and Casey's house.  I will be paroling the streets when people least expect it to protect what I have earned been given.  Drinks turned into more drinks which turned into making a LOT of new friends.  

After a long night and a completely unnecessary trip to Taco Bell we woke the next morning in dire need of a great brunch location.  Side Street Cafe was one of those locations that made you feel right at home.  I'm sure it had nothing to do with the quaint location, the fresh squeezed apple and orange juice, or the life sized poster of George Straight.  Okay, it had everything to do with the life sized poster of George Straight.  If you ever make it to Southern California stop by and order the stuffed french toast.  It's heaven in your mouth.  

The wedding on Saturday afternoon was beautiful.  The priest was great.  Is that weird to say?  Seriously though, he did a wonderful job of keeping us all engaged and making the ceremony extremely personal.  To be honest with you he looked oddly familiar.  Actually, just like Dr. Chung from the previous hospital I worked at.  I don't have photos of either of them but trust me when I say they are brothers.  

Cocktail hour and the reception was at Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach, CA.  Fabulous time was had by all.  The staff was very attentive especially when the bride had a bit of glass stuck in her foot.  The details were impecable, down to the specialty cocktails named for the bride and groom.  Mr. C (Whisky and Ginger) and the Mrs. C (Bellini). 

OH... OH... let me tell you about the music.  I am obsessed with the DJ.  Seriously, he was spot on the entire night even though he rejected one of my requests... for good reason.  The bride no doubt put together a great playlist which I'm going to need a copy of.  You might hear very identical music at my wedding.  He played all the classics and tons of great, old, southern songs.  Rocky Top was the perfect way to get all of the North Carolina girls on our feet and the father/daughter dance was amazing with Carolina Girl playing in the background.  DJ you were ON POINT.

I also didn't realize how much I under utilized the photo booth until I saw the following photo.  I'm now completely jealous of Anne.

P.S. did I mention that I made tons of new friends at the reception too.  I cannot wait to go back to CA and hit up a Crowder family reunion.  I was invited by a lot of people.  Trust me, they want me to come!  

A quick thanks in particular to the couple who complemented my sweet sweet dance moves as we waited for valet at the end of the night.  If I didn't have confidence on the dance floor before, I certainly do now.  (I have witnesses this really happened).  

A big CHEERS to Mr. and Mrs. C! I wish you a lifetime of happiness and I'm so glad I was able to share in your wedding weekend.  Look for me soon, I have a two block radius to patrol now :)