Two Thoughts Tuesday: On Oblivions

1) Last week's Tuesday post mentioned in passing my trip to Charleston, and I had a couple of people corner me and say "Charleston, wha?" Yea, I went to Charleston. Back in February. I spent that month pretty much in a state of oblivion. Which you probably guessed from the measly five posts that month. Actually though, those 28 days did see me doing a number of really neat things. Like take a kid-free mini-vacay to Charleston, SC. Here are a few of my favorite photos from that trip.

So pretty. In February. Not fair. 

He loved me! Probably because I'm made of pure sugar. 

I wouldn't mind bills so much if I got to pluck them from this box. 

Cru Cafe Tomato Basil Soup. Yes. Trust me. 

I loved these gnarly branches. I just wanted to climb up there with my book. 

I was very attracted to this display of buttons at a thrift store I wandered into. I didn't buy any though. Regret. 

Adored this guy on the bike. Don't know why, but I did. 

2. While in town, we also took a boat tour that landed us on a deserted barrier island for a couple of hours. I have since decided that I want my own private island so that I can come across treasures like this daily:

And also so I can spread my arms and run around making airplane noises without anyone seeing me and labeling me "childish" or "just plain nuts".

 

Similar reasoning behind the making peace sign shadows and then taking pictures of them. These are the kinds of things one can do on her own private island without fear of retribution. Or laughing pointing fingers.

Oh, and do you see all of those open shells there? Here this photo is better:

For some reason, all I could think of was that it looked like the morning after a sea gull frat party. Instead of a scattering of red Solo cups and smashed Budweiser cans like in the human version, there was a sea of cracked and picked clean mollusk shells dotting the beach. I imagined the engorged birds lying around somewhere over on the other side of the island belching and rubbing their swollen bellies. They better not get too comfortable though, because when I assume ownership of this island these nights of debauchery will be no more. Not on my island buddy. Birdy. You know who I mean.

Oh, Oh It's Magic!

Did you know that today is officially 90210 day? Why? Because the date today is 9.02.10. This won't happen again until September, 2 2110--and who knows if people then will even know of the wonder that was Brenda Walsh. So we must celebrate now! Join me!

In other news, we went to Ocean City, Maryland last weekend. We were lucky to be able to get a way for 3 days given how hard Drew's been working on the Pig. But we weren't going to let our limited stay keep us from enjoying every minute of the trip. I even received a sign at the beginning of our journey that our vacation had been touched by magical beings.

Rainbows! It was like a happy little leprechaun waved his magical arms and blessed our trip with the luck of the Irish. And don't even think about telling me about angles, light refraction and prisms. It was totally a happy little elf that did it. Probably one distantly related to this fairy-like creature:

She never leaves home without her wand. You never know when you're going to need  a little bibbity bobbity boo, right? If the following photos are any indication, her spell for fun in the sun certainly went off without a hitch.

But magical creatures have to be careful as humans are always trying to snare them in traps as to harness their power. We can't be leaving tracks like these around.

Cover them up! Quickly!

One rule of fairydom: the wand is only to be used for very special purposes. Still, I begged and pleaded for her to use her magic to grant me better posture. I thought for a minute she might acquiesce, but, well, obviously not.

My next attempt at corruption was to try to get the little sprite to find a way to contain the sand invasion, but she refused. So I was left to find a solution  myself. Perhaps playing in the gritty stuff before getting all wet would help? It's a conundrum for sure.

Even the Super Heroes were perplexed to the point where they could only bury their heads in the sand in defeat.

I even employed the use of a mystical powder. It tried valiantly to defeat the enemy, but even with such a powerful potion, the sand still found its way into countless nooks and crannies.

Eventually, the crunching of the grains got to us, and we headed for other diversions. Ahoy Matey!

Something's a little fishy with that buccaneer, right?

Together, the terrible two searched for buried treasure.

They found my booty!

 Treasure any pirate worth his wooden leg would fight to possess. Time to kick back and enjoy the spoils of victory.

But every good story must come to an end, so soon it was time to leave the mystical beach and head back to reality. Unable to believe that our good luck could possibly hold much longer, Captain Amaya decided it would be a good idea to bone up on flight safety protocol.

Thankfully, those rainbow-providing guardian angels saw fit to see us safely home.You can't tell me a simple prism did all that. It's magic baby.

I need a time machine

Have I ever told you how much I love the Hipstamatic App? I have? Oh. Well, can you blame me for my exuberance when you see this awesome picture?

Or this one?

I mean Hipstamatic even makes a random pile of plastic toy debris look all artsy and stuff.

I just adore that vintagey feeling. I have more to share with you about our Great Weekend Beach Escape, but unfortunately I have to deal with the real world demands of unpacking, cleaning, grocery shopping and laundry first. Sometimes being so responsible is a real bummer, isn't it?

Rainbows Everywhere I Look

Today, I watched the season finale of HGTV's Design Star--it actually aired last night, but so did True Blood and Mad Men. I can only stay up so late these days. And that would be why I love Tivo: because this episode was the big winner reveal--not one to be missed, you know. I won't spill the beans here, just know that I am very pleased with the results. I had picked this contestant from the very first episode as my favorite--sparkling eyes in the title sequence get me every time. Anyway...I do have a point somewhere here. Let me think...

Oh yea. On these types of shows, they're always spouting off about finding inspiration everywhere you look. Doesn't matter if it's a home show, fashion show, or food show--it's the same mantra. Open your eyes and really see the beauty that surrounds you. Then turn around and make something to express how joyous you feel about all of this loveliness. I wanted to play along, so here's what I saw.

This was by the checkout area in Giant. I loved the neatness, colors and the fact that there was some healthy stuff there instead of just a pile of debris from a chocolate factory explosion. So I took this utilitarian beauty and made this

color-coded sock drawer! Neat and it doesn't get more functional then this, right? I really hope that somewhere out there someone with the power to give me my own TV show is reading this, since clearly I've got this "Inspiration in Unusual Spaces" thing down.

Seeing those perfectly matched socks reminds me of that game on Play with me Sesame where Bert has to match socks on a clothesline. Thinking of Bert reminded me of this picture:

So yes, I just took you from Design Star, to the grocery store, to my sock drawer and ended up at Busch Gardens all in less than 300 words. The inner-workings of my mind can be a scary place, no?

Traveling With Mellon: Wisconsin Edition

I can't believe I forgot to tell you all about how much fun I had in Milwaukee. I never knew it was such a cool city. And oh my, but friendly! There was no shortage of kind words, unforced small talk and smiles for us everywhere we went. Midwesterners have earned their rep.

The city pretty much had me at hello when I noticed that the airport had a playroom for kids in the terminal. How helpful would that be? We stayed at the Iron Horse Hotel, and I just loved it. The interior decor is right up my alley--it even had  a library where you could sit and drink tea. Books and tea. Heaven. And the restaurant Smyth had the fluffiest omelet I've ever eaten. Here's a brief rundown of a few more key hotel details that put it in the Simply Must Visit Again column of my travel log.

The hotel room had a bench with hooks above it where you could hang your jacket and take off your shoes. This was much appreciated by a certain someone with extremely wide feet who gets blisters from every pair of shoes she ever wears. I found it to also be aesthetically pleasing. Twofer.

Hello in-room mini-Keurig! Real coffee cups would have made me even happier though. Still, beggars can't be choosers and with a 5:00AM wake up on our last morning, I was most definitely not in a position to be choosy about how the caffeine got into my system.

Double sinks in the bathroom are a must when you like to keep your area looking like this:

but your husband keeps his looking like this:

The only caveat I have is this: If you plan to bunk up with someone in a room, make sure you pick a person who you feel really comfortable around. Why you ask? Because here's the view from the bed:

Yep, that's the shower. And nope, it doesn't leave a whole lot to the imagination. Not that I minded, but if someone were sharing a room with, say, her Mother-in-Law that might get a bit awkward.  Don't say I didn't warn you.

After the race, we had a very lovely dinner at Rock Bottom.

Where I highly recommend the cheesy, pretzel appetizer.

After dinner, we took a little stroll along the river. In the spirit of romance, Drew showed a new-found willingness to snap photos of me.

Now, if he could just get a handle on his technique...

Get 'Er Done

My mother hates that phrase by the way. Me, well, I'm not going to plaster it across my windshield or anything, but I can see its value.  Because sometimes you really do just need to--ahem--get 'er done. And let me tell you, I've never seen a group more skilled at that then these fellows right here:

The #11 crew had me sitting in awe all day long Saturday. Of course, there's the glitzy pit stop action that can make or break a race. I really have no adequate words to describe how thrilling it is to watch that car come speeding in to be swarmed by these guys like a hive of mechanic bees. I barely had time to snap this picture before Brian was zooming off again.

But then there's also all of the strategy and adjustments that come with racing on a road course instead of the usual ovaly-type one. I'm sure you find my technical jargon rather awe inspiring too, right? While it's true that I didn't understand half of the things that were said and done, I was still enthralled just watching all of the decisions being made.  That team just rolled with all the punches that were thrown their way--and if you watched the race, then you know that there were quite a few jabs that had to be absorbed. Even though I had absolutely nothing to do with the #11's solid 13th finish, I still felt really proud of those guys. BigSpot is lucky to have found such a great team to work with.


 I am slowly absorbing the NASCAR lingo--and I have this guy to thank for a lot of that:

Joey D--aka my lameduck BFF--not only excels at tire catching, (jettisoning?) but he also is a professor of tire dissection. Thanks to his expert tutelage, I now have a sketchy understanding of why the crew takes a blow torch to the tires that come off the car. 

Let me see if I can remember...this is where my visual aids will come in handy.

The rubber gets really hot after having gone around the track at whiplash-inducing speeds. So, when the car comes down pit road, it picks up debris that gets stuck in the rubber. The blow-torch wielder removes that layer of grit and grime so that the depth of the remaining tire can be measured. That's what he's doing here--measuring how much wear the tire got in the center vs. the edges. Those numbers he's writing are important

to this guy because he's an engineer. (read: very smart) He puts those numbers into a top secret formula that I speculate includes the gratuitous use of a black hat and the word "abracadabra". Then from thin air he pulls numbers that tell the crew how much pressure should be added or subtracted from each of the tires. Or something like that anyway. If you have any questions about my facts, you'll have to check with Sensai Spinnawitz. Although I will be candid here and say that I do question my mentor's sanity being as he suggested I attempt to operate the blow torch right there in the pits in the middle of a race. Visions of gas cans exploding in rapid-fire secession all the way to the finish line flashed before my eyes before I quickly declined that opportunity. Anyone of stable mind would know that there needs to be a mile long, fire proof perimeter set up before anyone hands me an open flame. Even with those precautions in place, I'm not sure it would be a wise move--I do like having eyebrows after all.


As mentioned, Road America is a road course. This means that you see the cars go by about every 2 minutes or so. Luckily, ESPN was playing up in the box so I could watch the action happening on the rest of the course. But, dude, they play a lot of commercials. Which left me with a fair bit of down time to study my surroundings. I did spend a fair number of those minutes studying him:

But, well, we've been married for nearly 9 years now, so that got old after awhile. Thus, I moved on to other, more novel sights. Here's a brief rundown of what caught my eye:



A) The crew that works hard should be fed accordingly. Enter Smuckers Uncrustables. I wonder if anyone has approached them about possible associate sponsorship? Seems like a win-win to me. I'll take a grilled cheese.

B) Is this where they keep the magic wands and white rabbits?


C) Aren't my shoes cute? I ♥ Boden.



Do you know what else I ♥ ? My new NASCAR BFF Ashley Parlett. She is a truly fascinating person. I'm not even exaggerating per my usual habit either. She actually builds cars. Builds them. You can imagine how this just blows my mind considering that I can't even figure out how to get the Volvo's high beams to stay on without having to keep holding the lever thing down. She has the coolest stories to tell about her racing days and being a female car chief in a mostly male-dominated world. But don't trust me, find out for yourself by checking out her blog: www.greaseormascara.com/

I wish I would have gotten a picture with her, but I was too busy having my "OMG how cute is this girl?" moment. And here's the kicker: when I mentioned her new status as my BFF, rather than mumbling about restraining orders and stalking laws while backing slowly away, she actually said "I'm stoked". So obviously, she has good taste, right? Wonder where she stands in the Great Get 'Er Done Debate?