Updates!

I'm still waiting on all the great pictures my friend took last week on our grand adventure, but I thought I could send along a little teaser your way, since you probably have no idea what's going on in my life right now. Here's a secret: I barely know either. But here's the 411.

My last day of work, as you know, was two weeks ago. I finished up teaching my last day of dance camps, and headed straight over to the salon to chop of all my long "bun-hair". It may not look shorter, but believe me. There are about 6 inches missing that were there before! I feel so freeeeeeee!

Mr. Audience, taped to the mirror for my last campers

After a long last day at work, my college biffle came over for a celebratory cheers and a little Disney channel.



And after a few days packed with doctors' and dentist appointments, I packed up the car and headed up to NYC to pick up my Iowan friend who flew into LaGuardia for a week of Irish music in the Catskills! 

Iowa and I in a tree-like restaurant, somewhere in the mountains...

Iowa joining her first Irish session. They grew up too fast!

So now I'm just DC chillin' here, waiting for pictures and putting all sorts of life events in order. In exactly one month, I'll be packing up and moving once again, this time 3,724 miles away, as the crow flies....

M-I-A

Just a quick post to say that sorry! I have been completely MIA the past week or so, but with good reason. I promise some good posts are coming your way soon! I'm still waiting on some pictures from a friend. But let's just say I spent the past week and a half chasing Irish Trad through the Catskills mountains and leave it at that!

More to come! And thanks for your patience ;)

Straight No Chaser

After an action- and friend-packed weekend in New York City, I miraculously made it back to Virginia in time to shower and head out to Wolf Trap with my mom and sister to see STRAIGHT NO CHASER. Haven't heard of Straight No Chaser? Oh, I am sorry for you! Check them out here. I know only a little about them: they started out as an a cappella group at Indiana University and more than a decade later (with a few new additions), they're still going strong. Makes me think of a lot of my friends in college (including my own dance team) who would've loved nothing more than to make a living out of our extra-curricular performing activities. 

I bought a Straight No Chaser album for my mother a few years ago after working at Barnes and Noble around Christmastime. The store kept playing the stupid CD on repeat for days on end, but my Mom loved it! So when they headed to our neck of the woods, we took advantage of it! 

Wolf Trap is a fantastic venue: an outdoor National Park for the performing arts. More than half of the theatre features lawn seats, which are super popular, even in Virginia summers which feature random thunderstorms most evenings. That concert last Sunday was no different (but more about that later). Mom sprung for the covered seats, just in case. It was a fantastic show, and the audience was really great. Poor Jerome (one of the group) collapse in the middle of a solo in the beginning of the show (I'm sure it's on YouTube by now.... the group, I think, was expecting it to be on YouTube even before the show was over.. haha). But he seemed to be okay after a minute, and the show continued with laughs and lots of songs!

A full house!

And a full lawn!

But though the show was a frolicking success, the weather decided to interrupt. With about ten minutes left of the show, we all thought bombers were heading into the area. When the sky collapsed into raindrops, we realized it was a thunderstorm instead. Luckily the lawnies didn't have to wait too long. (My mother couldn't understand why they waited at all; my sister and I agreed that it was an adventure).

Soon, the show ended and we all hauled ass through the torrential downpour. Well, it didn't really matter how fast anyone was going; we were all wet.

Despite the weather thing, it was a real treat getting to see this group in concert. They're fantastic performers, and the show really bounced with energy. If they're ever in your neck of the woods, it's worth the investment. But even as they said themselves, you can probably (and hopefully) find a couple of their concert videos on YouTube. They are a YouTube sensation, after all!

Happy Listening!

A New York Minute- Part B

This post is a continuation from A New York Minute- Part A

Saturday was filled with New York Irishosity. So after a delicious Irish breakfast and a quick pint at one favorite local, I left one friend and walked around the corner to meet another at my ultimate favorite New York pub, Molloy's. 

After meeting two quite lovely friends, after six hours, and after a very large tab, we closed shop and headed out. I met a few friends afterwards for drinks at a trendier bar downtown, but our night ended early with a long commute back to the BX.  It was definitely the epic length of time spent with S at Molloy's that highlighted the day! 

No pictures please!

And a few hours later, M joined in!

Cheesing it in the cab

Cheers to my two friends who'd never met before and graciously agreed to combine our outings into one so that I could spend as much time as possible with each one! :D

So after crawling out of bed on Sunday morning and trekking it all the way back to Manhattan to catch my early bus, I made it back to DC just in time for a very special Mother-Daughter-Daughter evening on Sunday night. But, once again, that'll have to be a post for another day. As you can see, last weekend was very eventful. How will I ever live up to this? 

A New York Minute- Part A

 One of New York City's biggest charms is its residents. They're not known for their friendliness or even their cleanliness. But New Yorkers know how to appreciate time and the little things. Perhaps it's because they spend so much time commuting, errand-running, and on other lonely pursuits with their headphones blaring. When the opportunity for a New York minute arises, they'll run for it head-on. Often it means huge crowds, uncomfortable heat, long lines; but it's that moment when you realize that a huge crowd came for the same thing you did, that all these people are excited for the same thing, and that you're waiting with a million other people that is so impressive. A New York minute usually lasts a few hours thanks to the line and the commute, but the experience is always worth it.

Last weekend, I headed back up to New York to visit all my friends who still live up there and who can't understand why I left. I'm still a little confused about it myself. But after two days in sandals on the dirty streets, I kind of remember...  Anyway after a successful show for my little Broadway campers, I caught the bus and sat through almost 8 hours of traffic to finally make it (late) for my friends birthday dinner!

Our Broadway set, decorated by the campers!

So close to the city! Why couldn't the Lincoln Tunnel just expand and let everyone in?

Birthday cake!

After a few hours of wine and Italian (and a big piece of birthday cake passed around the table with a spoon), we split the bill 10 ways (though the birthday girl thought it might be cheaper to split it 11) and walked our separate ways.

Some of us stumbled upon the Canal Room...

A huge pile of checks...

There were big blow-ups of 90s pop singers all over the place.

Apparently, a friend's boyfriend told us, the Canal Room plays 90s music on Friday nights. We weren't sure what that might mean, so we wandered around until we came to this deserted looking room with a bar in it. Since they were playing "Black or White" we figured we could stay for a while, and before we knew it, the place was packed with Zack Morris' crew and Nsync's posse. It turned into a great night; even NYC's own Scottish lass Elise trekked down to join!

The cover band knew how to sing to 20 somethings who're still stuck in the 90s!

Completely unprepared for photo

So after a great and random night of singing Backstreet Boys and Blink-192 at the top of our lungs, we crawled the 10 blocks back to a friends apartment and fell right to sleep.

Saturday morning, I headed out and met a friend for Irish breakfast. Saturday actually turned into Sarah's Irish fest, but more on that later.

I had actually (sadly) allotted only two hours for each of the four or five friends I tried to see on Saturday. But thanks to some people's openness to new friends and some people's busy schedules, I got to spend a great many hours with just a couple. So after three hours at the restaurant drinking tea and mimosas long after our food was gone, I head over to the pub.

But more on that next post... :D

Batman wallet!