Three Things

1. Salon Salon of Anna Maria Island did a wonderful job on hair and makeup!
   
2. Bradenton Beach and the surrounding beaches made for a peaceful, sunny mini-getaway.
3. The glowing bride and myself - we've come a long way since middle school days!
   

East Coast Weddings (Weekend III)

Off to the southern gulf coast of Florida to take part in and celebrate the nuptials of Christina Reed and Matthew Beers this weekend! I've known them since middle school :)

Three Things

Three snapshots from my 10 days on the East Coast in September.

Reunited with Feven and Allison at Cleo & Alex's wedding in Street, MD

Bacca - Tamara's adorable golden-doodle pup

Enjoying Dogfish Head 60 minute IPA & soft pretzels with Pete after Desi & Tim's wedding

East Coast Weddings (Weekend II)

Tomorrow, I'll be heading to South Jersey reunite with some great UMBC friends in celebration of the nuptials of Desi Tubb and Tim Conway.

Miss Tubb, or should I say the soon-to-be Mrs Conway, is pictured at to my left. Many of my fond early-college memories of pasta and t-shirt parties, long runs in Patapscos and bus rides to meets include Desi and the additional lovely ladies of UMBC XC below...see you girls soon!

East Coast Weddings (Weekend I)

Today we're headed up to Street, Maryland to celebrate Cleo and Alex's wedding!

The lovely bride is pictured to my immediate right - she and Allison helped me plan a surprise visit for Feven and Emily one fall when I was helping to recruit at Maryland schools for GE IMLP.

Headed Back East for Weddings!

I'll be East Coast'ing it for the next 10 days - attending two weddings (one in Maryland, one in New Jersey) and working from the NYC office in between. Aside from the obvious excitement about the lovely friends I'll catch up with, I am quite looking forward to Yuengling, Pub Dog pizza, being in the city during NYFW...not so much the head and humidity, but I'm sure I'll survive :)

Back to packing!

The City That Never Sleeps

A friend recently asked me what my favorite city was. I couldn't answer. As my blog header indicates, I've done my fair share of adventuring via plane, train, automobile and the occasional boat.

What better to do than use that question as a subject of a series of blog entries. But where to start?

Many thoughts later and after going through my past years' albums, I still can't rate the cities I've visited. They've all featured such unique memories. There are some that I'd like to claim pseudo-local status based on the volume of friends, family and stories...out of these, New York City takes the cake. Even if I can't rank my favorite cities, I can name my favorite places to eat, visit, drink and wander around within each. That should count for something right?

So here's my NYC rundown:

1. The High Line - thisconverted rail line (pictured above) is hands down one of my favorite places in the city. With Frying Pan not too far from the northern beginning of the park and Chelsea Market and the Standard (pictured at right) along the way, it's a one-stop shop for fun and food with a great set of views.
2. Bars and restos along and nearby St Marks Place - Bua, Rai Rai Ken and Polonia ...unrelated to food, but definitely a great stop inthe surrounding neighborhood is Galleria Nails - THE best manicure and pedicure quality and deals and are amazingly friendly.
3. Beauty Bar - Countless nights out in NYC have ended with a great dance party in the back room of this bar. Additional points because Artichoke pizza is so close.
4. Sunday brunches - Atlanta and the South gave me an appreciation for the Sunday brunch ritual, but New York has it refined to an art and the options seem endless. Braai offers a great South African spin on the brunch norm, and Prince Street Cafe became a go-to after one fun New Years Eve trip.
5. Russian baths - After all the eating and drinking and walking around the city, sometimes you just need to relax and decompress. In fact, its become the New Years Day afternoon tradition.

Ohhh memories. This entry makes me even more excited to be headed back to the city for a week of work in between weddings in Maryland and New Jersey. Also, while favorites and traditions are always good to have on deck, I'm always open to suggestions of new places to try out...so send 'em my way.

See you soon, NYC!

Three Things

• Sunny summer West Coast late afternoons = making plans to avoid traffic getting the beach. Sunny summer Atlanta late afternoons = making plans to avoid the line for getting into Sweetwater outings. Both very fun and great in their own special ways.

• Humidity has struck the West, making me wish I could be near a river where I could improve the kayaking skills I learned in April. My friend John took a few of us out to North Carolina where we ran the Lower Green and learned basic wet exits - so much fun!

• July & August are always associated with my IMLP Bootcamp memories. Three summers ago, we were at Junior Bootcamp in Danbury. Two summers ago, Senior Bootcamp at Shanghai. Last summer we all had training at Crotonville before our Graduation in Atlanta. Miss you all!