Worker bee ...

... that's me. What have I been up to, you ask? Working, working, working. This weekend I hope to be able to relax and maybe take some fun pictures to post. I'm pretty sure a picture of me at the office wouldn't be exciting at all.

I am first mate

Since I had Columbus Day off, a friend invited me to go sailing. It was a perfect day to be out on the water and we spent hours in the sun, relaxing and not doing much of anything. I couldn't have asked for a better day off.The whole gang, from right to left: Jake, Annie, Ryan, Monica and Mark. I have begun logging my 365 days as first mate needed to become a captain. I think I did pretty well and I even got to climb the mast. America's Cup here I come.

Small town visit

This weekend I did something I've always wanted to do -- get in my car and drive, without a plan, without a pre-determined destination. I knew I wanted to head west, so I drove through the beautiful Virginia countryside and found myself in Strasburg, VA, about 60 miles from home. I checked into a brand new hotel (I was the first person to sleep in my bed) and enjoyed this cute little town. I ate a big breakfast, sitting at the counter of the Hi Neighbor restaurant and I did plenty of antiquing. Sadly I didn't come home with any great finds, but I enjoyed the hunt.

I ended my short trip in Shenandoah National park where I drove along Skyline Drive. I went on a very brief hike, enjoyed the beginning of fall colors and saw an amazing sunset. The perfect end to a perfect impromptu trip.

The great relay

I did it! A daunting 183 miles, 12 team members, 2 vans and enough water and Gatorade to bathe in made for one exciting adventure last weekend. I ran the Ragnar Washington DC relay which started in Cumberland, MD, traveled across most of Maryland, passed through DC and ended in Crystal City, VA. I ran three different legs: 7.7 miles, 3.3 miles and 5 miles, all in the rain and two in the dark. It was something I had been training for since late May and it was exciting to finish something I had worked so hard for. Our team didn't win, but we finished and that's all I was hoping for. Stretching out before my first leg -- 7.7 miles. I wore a head lamp so I could see in the dark. It was my longest leg, but perhaps the easiest. I was fresh and had plenty of energy.
At the exchange for my first leg.
My team met me half way on the trail and took my picture. I was still feeling pretty good.
Me with Ali and Ann. This was taken right before my last leg which was undeniably the hardest. The cold I had been fighting got the best of me and I started to have some difficulty breathing. Thanks to the encouragement from another team along the route, I pushed through and finished. I was glad it was over.
Our team at the finish line: Ashley, me, Alison, Susan, Ryan, Alisha, Amy, Ali, John and Matt. I didn't look super great because I got a little sick at the end. Notice my red mouth from the three Gatorade's I downed in the preceding 30 minutes. However, I was smiling big because I was so glad it was over. I had a great time with a great team. I'm definitely planning on doing this next year.

My favorite place in the world

In August i went to Oregon for a week. I spent the entire time at the beach which is what I had been craving for quite some time. The Oregon coast is quite possibly my favorite place in the world.
It rained for the first three days so we spent a lot of time inside. Savannah and Margaret gave us a little dance recital.
I love this picture. Doesn't Margaret look like Andrew when he was little? She makes funny faces just like he did too.

Cape Falcon

I wanted to get at least one hike in so we decided to hit Cape Falcon in Oswald West state park. It was 5 miles round trip and the views were spectacular.

Around the bonfire

We had some great bonfires on the beach throughout the week. Even though it rained during the day, the nights were generally dry so we were able to build fires and watch the sunset almost every night. We enjoyed marshmallows, smores and hot dogs and we even made cobbler in a makeshift dutch oven fashioned from tinfoil and an old stockpot.

Throughout the week, we had a variety of people join us on the beach for the bonfires. Linda, Savannah, Margaret, LeGrand, Sheila, Lynn, Kevin, Kennedy and Kyle all joined us one or more nights.
Savannah and Kennedy playing in the sand before sunset.

Mom and Sheila loving their matching hats.

It was great to spend more time with Lynn & Kevin and their kids. Thanks for coming for the whole week guys. I'm glad you came!

Kayaking on the Nehalem River

On Friday, Dad and I rented kayaks in Wheeler and headed up the Nehalem river. It was a perfect blue sky day after a long week of rain.

The Hall: Before and After

What is our facination with the before and after? Who doesn't love a good makeover show or a magazine article with pictures showing the ugly before and the beautiful after? I decided my own front hallway needed a little improvement; I wanted something a little more inviting to greet me when I opened the front door. As you can see all white can be a little drab and uninspiring. Nothing that a coat of paint can't solve. The painting is a print I picked up in Spain - La Tierra by Cesar Manrique.

Road trippin' down south

Last weekend I took a short little trip to Austin, TX and Nashville, TN. My company had a vehicle in Austin that needed to be driven back to Virginia and while we could have paid a transport company to ship it up here, I thought I'd better go down and take care of it myself. I love Austin -- it's great restaurants, fun night life, live music and eclectic art scene. My company also has a condo there, which they are selling, so I had to take advantage of the super cool pad one last time. This is the view from the condo's 28th floor balcony. You can see why I wanted to visit there one last time before they sell the place. In another life (where I have lots of money) I have a sweet place like this.I flew down to Texas with a co-worker and after two days in Austin, we loaded up the car and started our long journey north. The first day we drove 14 hours through Texas, Arkansas and Tennessee, finally arriving in Nashville around midnight. After a good night's sleep, we wandered around Music City for a day, listening to all the live music pour out into the streets. We enjoyed the music, looked in some of the shops and ate some delicious southern BBQ. I had pulled pork on corn cakes with plenty of coleslaw and BBQ sauce. YUM!

Of course, for me, a trip wouldn't be complete without a visit to an art museum or gallery. I visited the Frist Center for the Visual Arts and saw an amazing exibit of paintings on loan from the Cleveland Art Museum. Here are two of my favorites from the exhibit.

La Vida by Picasso

The Red Kerchief by Monet

Walking down the street in Nashville, I came across a rather unique gallery - Nashville's Smallest Art Gallery. It is just a glass case on the side of the building. I loved these paintings by Ryan Hale.

After enjoying a brief day in Nashville, we hit the hay early so we could leave at 3 a.m. the next day. I was excited to pass though the rest of Tennessee and a large part of Virginia. My favorite part had to be the Smoky Mountains which were so breath taking that when I saw them, I screamed. We passed through them in the early morning just before sunrise and the hills were covered in a thick fog that hovered above the rolling mounds of green. They truly looked smoky, almost to the point of sultry, like a smoky nightclub with an air of mystery. Unfortunately I remembered to pull out my camera after it was too late. This was taken somewhere near the Tennessee - Virginia boarder. My trip through the south was definitely too short. Someday I will plan a proper trip there and take time to visit the Grand Ole Opry, Smokey Mountain National Park, Texarkana (just because I like the name) and other random towns full of interesting people, rich southern soul food and beautiful landscapes. Oh, and I promise I'll take more pictures next time. I am sad that I didn't get a real picture of Nashville or the long country roads through Texas. Next time.

Saratoga Springs

For Memorial Day weekend, Rebecca and I went up to Albany and surprised Emily with a fun little sisters weekend in Saratoga Springs. It was nice to get away and spend some time in horse country. We of course had to try on some gear. Aren't we the cutest cowgirls ever? After a morning of shopping, we hit the Saratoga Farmers' Market where we browsed booths and had some delicious samples. I think a lazy morning at an outdoor marked is one of those simple summer pleasures that I miss during the winter.
After shopping and walking around town, we were ready to relax. The whole point of the weekend was a visit to the famous Roosevelt Bath House and Spa so we were glad to finally be there for our treatments. To start off, we had mineral baths, which, to be honest, seemed a little sketchy to me. I don't even take a bath in my own tub unless I scrub it for hours so the thought of bathing in a public bathtub was a little unappealing. And, when we got into our separate rooms, it kind of felt like a hospital room with an old porcelain tub and institutional white tile, not to mention the water was orange and you couldn't see the bottom of the tub. Who knew what could be lurking in the fizzy water. Once I got past all of that, it was relaxing and I started to understand why people have been going there since the '40s to enjoy a good mineral bath. After a facial and then a massage, we were sufficiently relaxed. It was time to enjoy a night on the town.
After dinner at a deliciously over priced restaurant (Saratoga is famous for them) we went to see Ann Hampton Callaway at the Spa Little Theater. We seemed to be a little out of our age bracket, but it was a brilliant end to a fabulous day. She sings mostly old standards, jazz and blues and does an excellent Barbara Streisand impersonation. We laughed and not just a little. And I am positive I am becoming like my mom -I like waiting after the show to meet the star. I admit when I was younger I was slightly sheepish when our mom would encourage us to go backstage and meet someone who was only being nice to us because he or she needed to maintain a fan-base. But now as I've gotten older, I've embraced this practice. It's fun to get autographs and cheesy posed pictures. Thank goodness I started a blog. Now I have a place to display the backstage photo shoots.

A lazy Sunday in Saratoga

On Sunday we got up early and watched Emily's husband, Doug, finish a duathlon. (He finished 3rd in his age group - Congrats Doug!) It was nice to get up early and enjoy the nice weather. While we were waiting for him to finish the race, Rebecca and I wandered around some of the art galleries in the up & coming art district of Saratoga. Then we met up with Em & Doug for brunch at Mrs. London's bakery. It was so delicious, I cleaned my plate. The Saratoga sparkling water was a highlight too. They're very proud of their water up there.We enjoyed the perfect Sunday afternoon -- lying on the grass in the cool shade of a big tree taking a nap.

More pictures of Saratoga Spa State Park and the bath houses. The whole complex was designed to be a place where people would linger and relax. We did just that.