trip across us part two

So here is Part One from a month ago. Sorry it took so long to finish this story. And even with this, it's not done!

After Colby, Kansas, it was more of the same -- nothing. I thought that when we would cross into Colorado, it would magically change and be awesome. Yeah, that didn't happen, although we did see the magical sign that told us the speed limit there was 75 mph. Yeah, no joke. Finally, though, we could see something on the horizon. The Denver Airport! Yeah! People! The drive through Denver wasn't too bad, but once we got into the mountains, things were a little hairy. It's definitely not easy driving in the mountains and if you don't get a good run up a hill, you're screwed for about a mile as you try to get up to speed. On the other hand, if you're going down a hill, you just have to ride it out so you don't burn out your brakes or get hit by the truck behind you who is also riding it out. Our Garmin keeps track of several things, including our fastest speed, and I think I hit our high speed of 85 while going down a mountain.

We finally made it to Vail and met my parents at the condo. It was the first time Aaron had been out there so it was good to finally have him along for a trip. My sister and her boyfriend had arrived a few days earlier so the six of us – parents, Aaron and me, sister and boyfriend – headed out to dinner that night at our favorite restaurant in town. My dad is turning 60 in August so we decided to do an early dinner with all of us in celebration. Lots of fun and totally yummy as always!

The next morning, Alix left bright and early at 5 a.m. Blech. But being the good sister that I am, I woke up to send her off…then promptly headed back to bed. After getting the whole gang up and ready – again – we headed for the mountain. Vail has a gondola that runs up the mountain in the winter for all the skiers, but in the summer, you can also ride it up and either hike around the top of the mountain or hike down. We decided to just stick to the top, forgetting that there were some uphill climbs that were not fun. Mom and I gave up early and headed back to relax in the shade and take in the view. Aaron and my dad kept chugging along and even got as far as the Game Creek Bowl chairlift, which not only was quite an impressive hike, but is also the chairlift we favor when we hit the slopes. Apparently, Aaron does, too. Here’s proof.That night, we had dinner in nearby Avon and then waited for the fireworks…and waited…and waited. Aaron got pretty bored, I got yelled at by “security” for breaking into a roped-off area to use the Porti-Potty [it wasn’t roped off when I went in], and I was denied cotton candy by my dad…well, and the long lines. At least the fireworks rocked!

The next day we headed out to Vail for the cheesy Fourth of July parade, which was a bit of fun but also a bit of a walk. We ended seeing some very old neighbors from way back when I was a kid and laughed at the pageant mom who was chiding Ms. Little Vail Valley [estimated age: five] on how to properly way to the crowd. I was laughing, yes, but it was quite disturbing. Then Aaron and I decided to go on a date and headed to the Transformers movie in nearby Edwards. I actually enjoyed the movie, but we got there an hour early to buy tickets and no one was there. I mean, biggest movie of the summer, lines out the door in NYC, and we had no problem buying tickets at the only movie theater in a ten-mile radius showing the flick. How embarassing. After that, it was dinner with the parents and home. And then instead of the ordeal we had in Avon, we watched the fireworks from the condo. Much better.

Bright and early the next morning, we drove to Piney Lake, a 15-mile drive on a dirt road. It was totally worth it. Look at this scenery!
We did some hiking and Aaron ran ahead because there were too many bugs. He was trying to swat them away and kept losing the battle. It was so cute. After that, we had lunch and then the two of us rented a canoe to take around. We actually did a great job with the canoe – never tipped it – and made it back just in time to miss the rain.
By then, we were all a bit beat so we headed home. On the way back, the car in front of us slammed on its brakes and we couldn’t figure out why. Turns out there was a moose with a baby on the side of the road. We’ve never seen moose back there before so it was a great treat.
We saw another one a little later as it bounded across the road in front of us. The thing was as big as a horse, but really agile and just seemed to hop on by. Crazy.

But back home we had to go to pack for our drive the next day. We had a lot of road ahead of us and many, many hours before we got to Vegas. As we pulled out of Vail, Alice chimed “Stay on I-70 for 212 miles.” Ugh. Thanks, Alice, you stupid GPS lady.

california rocks my world

Last night, I was up at 12:58 surfing the Web when I felt a jolt and my desk shook. Weird. So I called to Aaron in the next room, "Did you feel that?" And just as I saw him walk into the living room, the apartment started shaking. We both kind of hovered in the doorway of the bedroom until the second shake subsided. Turns out California welcomed us with open arms by giving us a nice little earthquake. Lovely. It didn't seem very nice or little to me, but most Californians are saying it wasn't that bad. Um...the earth moving below you isn't that bad? Good thing I haven't hung up my shot glasses yet.

The U.S. Geological Survey has a cool Web site that updates instantly with earthquakes, which is where we checked first. The big square on this chart is what we felt. We're just south of Santa Monica on the map.

celebrity sightings

So I can officially say I've made it in LA now that I've had a celebrity sighting of mine posted on Defamer's Privacy Watch. My friend Heidi took Aaron and I out in her neighborhood and we were apparently are very cool because celebrities followed us in! First, Jason Segel from How I Met Your Mother, then Mandy Moore, and then Vince Vaughn. Vince Vaughn! I'm that cool.

Last night, I went to the Arclight in Hollywood to see Hairspray [and sing along with the words at the bottom of the screen]. It turns out that they were hosting the premiere of The 11th Hour there last night, which is Leo DiCaprio's documentary about global warming. I didn't see Leo, but I did see Adrian Grenier from Entourage. Man, that guy is definitely hotter in person. Like really hot!

So yeah, I'm awesome...or a starfucker. One of the two. And by starfucker, I mean hanging around celebrities, not actually...you know. I have a husband for that.

sunny day

Sweeping the clouds away...Does anyone else remember that song? Yep, it's the theme song to Sesame Street and the 38th season of the show is starting this month. Yikes! I remember watching this show as a kid so that makes me feel old. Anyway, the premiere is going to include all kinds of celebrities from Rachael Ray to James Blunt. Plus, Anderson Cooper is going to be reporting for Grouch Network News from a garbage can. I don't care if Anderson smells like trash, he's still hot. Oh, Anderson!

So here's where we all travel down memory lane. Does anyone have a favorite episode of Sesame Street? My favorite was when everyone found out that Snuffulupagus [spelled it right the first time!] was real. That episode features Phil Donahue as a guest. There was also the one where Mr. Hooper died and I learned about death, which they made seem really nice. So what were all of yours?

And holy crap! So I did a search for the Sesame Street Christmas Special on YouTube and Ethel Merman and Michael Jackson were in the special. No joke! I think that's also the part where Bert and Ernie meet O. Henry.

mom pants

You know those unflattering pants that your mom wears? The ones with the pleats in the front and the zipper that goes all the way to her navel? Yeah, well, I think Kate Holmes Cruise is wearing those pants in this picture. And even worse, there are pleats in the back, too! Luckily, it seems dlisted agrees with me and also posted a few more of these pictures so you can see just how bad they are.

This reminded me of the Mom Jeans commercial that aired a few years ago on Saturday Night Live. You all know what Mom Jeans are and you all know that moms who forget all fashion sense wear them. They are not nice things to be wearing, people. Pleats, long zippers, and elastic waist bands should not be encouraged. In fact, I told my husband a few years ago that if I ever walked in wearing Mom Jeans, he had every right to tell me to take them off and burn them immediately. I just need to know that I have someone watching out for me in case this happens.

And by the way, who dresses their child in a Burberry dress? That thing probably cost $300 and you know it's going to get kid goop all over it.

harry, pot her

How come the British adult covers always look so cool? I want those now! Anyway...

So I know you all have finished reading the last Harry Potter book and loved it as much as I did. But we all know there were still a few unanswered questions. The good news is that JK Rowling actually answered a few of them in a live chat through Bloomsbury, her UK publisher. Among the revelations? Dumbledore saw his family in the Mirror of Erised, she changed her mind about having someone do magic late in life, Lockhart is still mental, and Harry is gay. OK, not the last one, but everything else is true.

In other news, someone took the Harry Potter audio book and edited it to sound...well...let's just say that Harry isn't as innocent as we all thought he was. Be aware that this YouTube video link contains not safe for work material -- really not safe for work -- but it's totally awesome. You can hear it here.

trip across the US, part one

OK, so I started writing this and it's more than 2000 words and not even done. So I'm going to break this up and hope you all enjoy!

Where to begin? Try Bloomington, Indiana where, after the movers packed us up and we scoured the place cleaned, our apartment management company felt the need to mark everything as "Not Clean". Bitches.

And with that, we started our long trek across the country. We bought a Garmin GPS thing we named Alice, who was nice enough to tell us exactly where we were supposed to be going, although we didn't need much help once we got going. We drove on our last Indiana backroad, which dumped us onto I-70 near Terre Haute. Ah, I-70. This highway was going to be our home until it ceases to exist somewhere in Utah.

The drive wasn't too bad to get to St. Louis -- well, until we got to St. Louis. It was around 9:30 at night and Alice the Garmin Lady was being a bitch. We were trying to find our hotel and learned our first lesson about Alice: she's accurate until you get close to your destination. Then you should throw her out the window. She told us we were approaching the hotel, but for some reason, the hotel looked like a freaking bank parking lot. Luckily, we finally found the place and luckily, it had two beds. So Aaron laid down on one to watch television while I sat on the other to knit. It was the farthest we would be from each other that day and we needed the break.

The next day, my college friend Kristen stopped by the room and we headed to lunch at the hotel before getting dressed for a fancy wedding. Our friend Christian from college was getting married and we had to look pretty. The Garmin once again took care of us for the most part until we got close to the church and it wanted us to turn into someone's driveway. Stupid Garmin.

The wedding itself was really beautiful and it was good to see some of the old college crowd. Can't believe it's been so long since I've seen many of them. The reception was awesome -- open bar! -- and I had a great time dancing with the two daughters of friends of mine. Plus, apparently, there are a few people I went to school with who now keep up with The Office Web site I work on. Crazy! So after the reception, a few of the old group headed to a bar -- and Aaron and I headed to bed. Boring, I know, but we had a big drive the next day.

So the next day -- woke up early, packed up the car, and headed to Columbia, Missouri, to meet some friends for brunch. My friend Jeremy lives in town with his wife and two kids and, coincidentally, my friend Brad was in town visiting. So there was Jeremy, Brad, and I sitting at The Heidelberg just like old times...well, except for Jeremy's wife and kids and my husband. It was definitely a great time, but I don't think Aaron was all that impressed as we stood in front of the bar waiting for everyone and I explained that the very gutter we were standing a foot from was the gutter I puked in on my 21st birthday. Ah, good times!

The best known landmarks on the University of Missouri campus are The Columns on the Quad so I had to get a picture of Aaron and I in front of them. So weird to have my husband on my old college campus and yet so cool.
Then we had to bid adieu to Jeremy's family and Brad, and head west. We had to drive another eight hours before we got to our hotel in the middle of nowhere Kansas. Along the way, we drove by the Kansas City Royals' stadium. Here's a picture -- they were playing the Chicago White Sox as we drove by.

And then it was nothing. Like nothing. OK, there was something. Corn fields. Lots of them. For miles and miles and miles. We ended up stopping somewhere along the way at a Sonic to get dinner [yum! tater tots and limeade slushes!] and here's a picture if you don't believe me when I say we were in the middle of nowhere.Then there was this weird oasis ahead that I thought looked like a bit of humanity amid the cornfields. I jokingly told Aaron that would be the metropolis we were staying in that night. As it turns out, it wasn't a joke. Crap.

Colby, Kansas was in the middle of nowhere and yet our Garmin still screwed up. We got off the highway and Alice told us to turn right. I knew this was wrong when I got about a half-mile down the road and realized I was already on the outskirts of town. So we turned around and sure enough, there was the hotel right off the highway -- if you turn left. Stupid Alice.

christmas in june

Here in Indiana, it's hot and muggy...and hot. There is no snow and no chance of snow. So for those of you who, like me, are boiling right now, I give you a little Christmas cheer to cool you down a bit. And who could resist the Christmas cheer of Charlie Brown?

Charlie Brown Christmas Performed by the cast of Scrubs -- So some producer at Scrubs got the stars to mouth new words to the classic cartoon. It's so good with JD playing Charlie!

Hey Ya! -- Apparently, Charlie and Co. are big fans of Outkast because here's a video they did for the song Hey Ya! as they dance around in the school auditorium.

SexyBack -- That's right, kids! Christmas is all about bringing sexy back. At least, that's what Linus says.

So kick back by the pool with frozen margaritas and enjoy the YouTubes!

for the fathers out there

Did you ever wonder what Father's Day will be like 30 years from now for people like Suri Cruise and Shiloh Jolie-Pitt? Well, wonder no more! There are some definite similarities -- I mean, who expected Blanket Jackson to NOT have a blanket on his head 30 years from now? I did. And Suri has a Scientology minder, which is always adorable.

In the meantime, I spent Father's Day with my dad at the Formula One race in Indy. It was quite enjoyable and not at all as brain-controlling as being the child of a celebrity so that was nice.

i give a damn

The American Film Institute tends to put out all these movie lists -- top 100 movies of all time, top villians of all time, etc. I found this YouTube video of the AFI 100 Greatest Movie Quotes and I have to say, it's pretty cool to watch. There's definitely some heavy representation of certain movies and certain actors. Marlon Brando shows up a few times, including twice in the top ten, and Casablanca and Gone With the Wind are well represented. And of course, there's some great lines in the montage. My favorites?

-- "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night."
-- "Rosebud."
-- "Here's looking at you, kid."
-- "I coulda been a contender, I coulda been somebody."

And the best one is one that I thought rightfully ended up in the top spot. "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." Ah, Clark Gable. You were so awesome in that movie.

speed

Kropp will probably be the only person who appreciates this post, but I'm making it anyway.

Lewis Hamilton won his first Formula One race, which is totally awesome because Lewis is The Next Racing Genius. Just forget all the Dale Jr. talk -- it's lame. Start talking about Lewis. Btw, I'll be seeing him this weekend at Indy for the US Grand Prix. It's going to be awesome!

Also at the race last Sunday was a wicked bad accident where Robert Kubica went airborne in one of the nastiest accidents I've ever seen. He ended up with a sprained ankle and mild concussion and hopes to race on Sunday at Indy. It's amazing how advanced the cars and safety of the drivers has become to have a driver walk away from a crash like that.

rip mr. wizard

So apparently, I'm old because even my husband doesn't remember this guy. Anyway, Mr. Wizard was on Nickelodeon back in the '80s and taught kids about science using everyday stuff. I specifically remember him doing an experiment with a bunch of mouse traps in a box with a ping pong ball on each one. He had a kid drop a ping pong ball in the box and all the mouse traps went off. It was awesome.

But then Nickelodeon cancelled his show, and now they have crap on the station, and Mr. Wizard is dead. I feel old.

If you need to jog your memory, here's the YouTube of the intro to the show. You will remember it as soon as you see it. Well, except for my husband.

reality tv round-up

Because I suck, I haven't updated this blog in AGES! So here you go now with my reaction to the reality TV finales from last month.

American Idol -- I'm glad Blake came in second. I think it's gotten to a point with this where second is actually better than first. You don't have as many restrictions on your work and can be more creative without Clive Davis breathing down your throat. And really, I liked Blake the most. What can I say? Beat-boxing to Bon Jovi was just damn cool.

Dancing with the Stars -- So check out the entry two down from here where I predicted that Joey Fatone or Apolo Anton Ohno would win this thing. I was so right! They were the top two and Apolo won and I love that. He was just so good! So yeah, count me among the old ladies who thought he was cute.

ballad cheese

One of my favorite bands to pick when I rarely and randomly go out to karaoke is Journey. It's cheesy, everyone sings along, and...it's cheesy. EW.com recently ran a piece called The Ultimate Cheesy-Ballad Playlist that included Journey, of course, as well as some other great ones:

-- "Could've Been" by Tiffany and "Lost in Your Eyes" by Debbie Gibson -- When I was in fifth grade, owning the albums by both of these teenagers was mandatory. Man, I loved Tiffany.

-- "Crazy for You" by Madonna. This and "Live to Tell" are my all-time favorite Madonna songs.

-- "Iris" by Goo Goo Dolls. Remember the summer when this song was on every single station all the time? I ended up seeing the Goo Goo Dolls in concert in Columbia, Mo. when I was in college. I got kicked in the face by a crowd surfer [yes, a crowd surfer at a Goo Goo Dolls concert] and took an elbow to the eye, which resulted in my losing a contact lens. My roommate had to drive my car home because I had no depth perception. Who knew a crazy night in college would be at a Goo Goo Dolls concert?

-- "Please Don't Go Girl" by the New Kids on the Block. The person on EW.com who mentioned this was mortified to be admitting she still listened to this song. I don't understand why you would be embarassed to admit that? I mean, I still listen to that song...

You know, that is a pretty mortifying thing to admit.

And in case you want to download and slow dance with your honey to Journey, here you go.
Journey - Open Arms

why i'm a nerd

Among many other reasons, I got geeked out last night during the Dancing with the Stars Results show when Drew Lachey made a guest appearance doing his freestyle dance from last year. You have to admit though, it's a pretty awesome freestyle dance. That being said, "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy" is now stuck in my head, which is all kins of suckiness.

That beings said, is anyone else watching the show this season? It's been interesting so far, but I have to say that Leeza Gibbons' leather number the other night was pretty scary. In fact, I think a few of those dancers outfits are pretty freaky considering I'm always ready for them to break a strap and have the whole thing fly off. They must have to have a tape delay for that or something.

So far, I'm predicting Apolo Anton Ohno and Joey Fatone in the top two. We'll see how that holds up.