Thanksgiving in Seattle Recap

In September, my grandmother passed away.  It was a sad time for the whole family, but there was a silver lining to such a loss.  My grandmother wanted the whole family, her kids, the grand kids (and now a great grand kid) and spouses to get together.

Now we're not a big family (there's only 16 of us), but we all live in different parts of the country.  San Diego.  Arizona.  Texas.  New York City. Kentucky.  And Maryland.  This makes it kinda hard to plan and meet in a unified location.  It's been maybe a decade since a majority of the whole family has been in the same place.  Well, in memory of my grandmother, Aileen, and thanks to the planning of my aunt Bonnie, we were able to make it happen.

Aileen grew up in Seattle and that's where her family is peacefully at rest.  So, a Seattle Thanksgiving it was.

We had a memorial and reunited her with her parents, sister and husband and later spread some of her ashes in a lake from the neighborhood she grew up in.  As somber as it was, it was also comforting to know that Aileen got her wish.  The whole family came together to see her home.

The rest of the trip was spent catching up and just enjoying being in the presence of each other.

So here's a recap:
-We had a gorgeous house on Lake Washington that fit all sixteen family members.
-Each family contributed to a meal every day.
-Thanksgivakkuh.  Thanksgiving and the first day of Hanukkah were the same day this year, which won't happen again in our lifetime.  I learned about the history of the menorah, more Jewish traditions and ate latkes.  Thanksgivakkuh for the win.
-My cousin Daniel.  The last time I saw him, he was in elementary school.  Now, he's almost done with college.  My goodness, he's a man now.  I.Feel.Old.
-I tried beef tongue for the first time.  It tasted just like salty roast beef.  Not too bad.  Points for trying new things.
-How happy my mom was to have all her kids together at the Korean grocery store, even though we were running around all over the place and brought random things to the cart.  Some things never change.
-Korean food.  Nuff said.
-Fried turkey.  Delicious.  Definitely the route to go if you want a turkey cooked in 30 minutes.
-Rounds of Catchphrase.  Nuff said.
-Having fish tacos from fish that were thrown at the world famous Pike's Place Fish Market.
-Hearing childhood stories from the adults.  Let's just say minors weren't allowed in the room.
-My family can throw down on some alcohol.
-The feeling of regret that we never did such a get together before, but energy to do something like this every couple of years.
-And Lola.  But Lola gets her own section.  Keep reading for more on her.
-I was a little bummed out that the BF didn't have his beard grown out.  All the Seattle men had beards, he would've fit in just fine.
-Came home to cat that hasn't had human interactions for a week and was needy and very talkative.

The BF and I stayed longer in order to enjoy Seattle more since we've never been.  We didn't go up in the Space Needle, but up in the Columbia Center building instead.  It's cheaper and it's taller and they have a Starbucks on the 40th floor with killer views.  It was the one day the sky was clear and we could see Mt. Rainier.  Awesome views of the whole place.  Speaking of Mt. Rainier, we tried venturing out there.  We drove 2 hours, just to get turned around because a snow storm closed the roads.  Bummer.  And also speaking of Starbucks, we found the oldest one at Pike's Place.  It's not the original location (that one is no longer standing), but again, it is the oldest.  And it was PACKED.  Waiting out in a line curving into the street is not for me.  I ain't got time for that.  But I did have time for a less busy Tully's Coffee, which is actually owned by Dr. Dreamy (Grey's Anatomy reference).  We discovered the Fremont neighborhood and the troll.  It was a neighborhood that I could see myself fitting right in. We caught up with a friend that just moved into the area a couple of weeks before we arrived.  And the BF and I also discovered two places that would totally validate moving to Seattle, if the need ever came up:  Taco Time and Taco Del Mar.

But something I will not miss, that traffic!  Well, not really the traffic, but the layout of the roads.  The city planners really love their 5 point intersections.

And Lola.  My dear Lola.  This almost one year old has captured my heart.  She is the calmest baby ever and it helps that she's adorably cute.  I'm just sorry, but I have to take a minute to gush over her.

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Okay.  I'm back

Picture time!

Our home for the week.

Saying goodbye to my grandmother one last time.

Beef tongue...and my brother's silly face.

Latkes.  Anything fried is always good.

Searching for gold.

In case it got cold, I got this for my brother.

The kids...and Lola.

 And now, for your undivided attention, my Lola collage.

Oh and did I tell you she won in a battle with a T-Rex.  No big deal.

Mini Beach Vacay

A bit ago, the BF and I took a trip out to Ocean City, MD.  October starts the time of year when dogs are allowed on the beach, so we took Gypsy along.  And since I'm a federal employee and was essentially temporarily unemployed during the beginning of the government shutdown, the trip was a great way to get my mind off things. 

Recap/things I've learned from the trip:

-Gypsy does not like the ocean.  The waves freak her out.  She was ready to go home within minutes at the beach.
-The first week of October is a great time to go to the ocean (if there's not a hurricane in the forecast).  It was 80 degrees and the water was still relatively warm.  The only people in town were retirees, parents with small kids, a couple of other younger kidless couples and locals.  The BF and I are quiet folks.  We fit right in with the old people.
-Off season means special prices at restaurants.  The businesses still open want to keep people coming in so discounts and other specials are offered.  Heck yea!  I'm a fan of half off Mexican food!
-Gypsy will let you bury her in sand.  She was so chill on the beach (once she realized we weren't going to force her in the water anymore), she laid down and let us make her into a sand crab and sand mermaid.
-How well we fit in with retirees and those with AARP memberships....hmmm...

My Old Kentucky Home Recap

So last week I went to Kentucky to see my baby niece for the first time...oh and the rest of my family.

It was a solo trip for me.  The BF got to live the bachelor life for a couple of days.

It was a well needed break and it's always good to see family, right?

Recap:
-Caught up on much needed sleep
-Caught up on much needed reading
-Caught up on doing absolutely nothing
-Beat a bunch of levels in Candy Crush
-Ate loads of Korean food
-Added more to my little's brother's Spiderman memorabilia...hahahaha
-Met my 5 month old niece Lola for the first time.  She cried when I first saw her, but she came around after sleeping the trauma away.
-Had a conversation with Lola, fed her, and had her fall asleep in my arms.  So cute!
-Accomplished 2 things off my Before 30 List.  More on that another time.
-Hung out with my high school besties.  We had a cookout and hung out on the porch in the country.  I'm pretty sure we looked a little redneck.  Oh, the South, how I've missed thee...
-Bit by 8 mosquitoes while hanging out with the besties.  I still have the bites.  I consider them my mementos.
-On the plane, sat by a man that could've held the Guinness record for most body hair.  Pretty sure I couldn't see any skin there was so much hair.  And we were armrest buddies.  Yessss.
-Being picked up at the airport by the BF and eating burritos.  Not too shabby a welcome.  Oh and he bought me a Firefly shirt.  Points for him.

Best part of the day!

Still the same since high school.

My Live Studio Audience Experience

Ok, so this is a week and a half late.  But in my defense and as I stated in my last post, it was Watchathon week, and I was very occupied.  Then once that was over, I had to catch up on some sleep due to the previous tv show watching marathon.

But, back to the point of this post.

If you ever have the chance to be part of a live studio audience, do it.  I'm sure they're not all the same, but the rush you get during and after I'm assuming is similar.  The BF and I had the chance to be part of Stephen Colbert's audience during his taping of "The Colbert Report" on Comedy Central.  I follow the show on Facebook, so every now and again, they'll post when tickets are available.  The tickets are completely free, you just have to pick a date of what's available and go from there.  The both of us are fans of Stephen and are only a couple of hours from NYC where it's filmed.  So when I saw that tickets were available, I snatched them up.

The Audience Department at the Colbert Report overbooks ticket confirmations to ensure a full audience.  Because of that, you have to make sure you get in line early enough to get a number.  That number is the order you'll get seated.  We got in line about an hour and a half before the time we were told and we were in the first twenty.  The waiting was outside and it was raining, but thankfully we were under an awning.  In that time, security gave us their spiel (no weapons or drugs, no food/drinks, no cameras, no phones).  We started getting led inside and had to go through metal detectors.  We then had to wait some more in a holding room.  I think we waited another hour.  This is the chance to use the restroom, play on your phone and take pictures.  There are tvs that play some of Colbert's best segments and kept us occupied.  Right before being led into the studio, we were told that we are the laugh track and that there are microphones everywhere.  They said, "Be exaggerated, be loud.  When Stephen gets on stage, go crazy.  He eats that shit up."  "Volume over authenticity" was a favorite quote from that night.

When the seating began, those with the coveted VIP passes got sat first.  But strangely they weren't sat in the front row like you'd think.  Then, four sets of numbers were called out and those with that number and their party were led into the audience.  They were the lucky ones that were sat right up front.  Anyway, we were all finally led to our seats.  What was so suprising was the size of the whole studio.  The stage itself is alot smaller than what appears on camera.  And there was maybe 50 seats in the audience.  Which was great, because there's honestly no bad seat that way.  Before the show, music is playing to keep everyone pumped up.  And security is watching everyone to make sure cameras and phones aren't being used, so no pictures from inside the studio! 

Before the main show, a warmup comedian comes out.  He was pretty funny, a little raunchy, but still funny and interacted with the audience.  His main job is to make sure the audience will be loud enough and to loosen us up.  The stage manager then comes out and tells us how everything will work and what cues he'll give us when we have to stand up and cheer. 

Then Stephen finally came out.  He actually does a Q&A with the audience out of character.  Random questions were asked.  What kind of BBQ, wet or dry?  Thoughts on the new Pope?  Do you find yourself slipping into character often?  Did you know today is National Tolkien Reading Day (which he is a huge Tolkien fan and started to speak in Elvish and was completely awesome).  Seeing him out of character was so neat.  He's still funny, but you could tell he was more serious in real life.

When taping finally started, the audience went crazy.  Stephen sat down at the desk and told us to sit down and we didn't, which you can see on the show.  Stephen ate it up and loved it.  The show was coming back from a two week break, so the show's crew was refreshed and the energy was just excited, which was so cool to see.

Stephen made a couple of mistakes and had to do reshoots.  Which, you can't even tell when watching the taped show that there was even an edit.  During the "commercial breaks", the stage crew would come out and do their thing.  Makeup retouches, stage retoughes, script retouches.  And Stephen would loosen himself up by dancing, singing and making faces.

And then, the taping ended and we go home.  While Stephen leaves, the rest of the crew hangs around to thank the audience as we leave.  

Overall, we waited twice as long as the taping actually lasted.  But it was worth it and an awesome experience.  We even made it on camera a couple of times.  I'm already looking forward to the next live taping I can get the opportunity to go to.

We got our numbers!

The holding room, with Colbert on in the background.

My awesome friend, Amber was able to get a screenshot of us.

NYC recap

So we had the pleasure of spending the last couple of days in New York City.  The weather this time around was much more doable...even though the one day that we had to wait outside, it snowed/rained and was the coldest.  Go figure our last day was the best weather wise and we had to spend that time on the bus back home.

Megabus is awesome by the way, if I never mentioned it before.  It was an hour late to pick us up in Baltimore (apparently there was a big accident that was holding up traffic), but it so worth not having to deal with Jersey/NY drivers and the $13 tolls.

Trip recap:
-Staten Island Ferry, which is a free option if you want to get a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty and the cityscape from the water.
-We saw rats in the Subway.  I was hoping for Splinter and the Turtles.
-Also saw a women vomit in a bag on the Subway.  She then proceeded to ignore the fact that she's carrying around a bag of her own vomit.  Lovely.
-The Highline.  My favorite place in NYC.
-99 cent pizza
-Dinner in Koreatown
-de Throwdown wafel from Wafel and Dinges' food truck.
-Being in the live studio audience on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report (there'll be a blog post about this soon).
-Seeing my aunt and uncle and having a mini Passover Seder with them.
-Papaya King
-Chinatown (wasn't the greatest and could've lived without)
-Walking.  Lots and lots of walking.  We ended up walking from the Staten Island Ferry station all the way back up to Midtown (45th St).  And not in a straight path, more like a zigzag.
-Seeing my baby brother's twin in Koreatown next to us.  Spitting image!  Even the mannerisms were spot on.
-Central Park, even though it was raining at that point.

R.I.P: Cedar Point's Space Spiral

I was a little heartbroken earlier this week.  An icon from the summers of my early twenties came crashing (literally) down. 

When I was in college, I spent my summers working at Cedar Point (America's Rockin Roller Coast!).  The actual work was sometimes grueling, and embarrassing, and some dignity may have been lost, but those were some of the best summers I had.  When I explain about my summers there, the person I'm talking to usually looks back at me with a face that says, "Really?  Working at what sounds like a labor camp doesn't sound appealing at all.  Why would anyone work there?"  And that person would have a valid point.  Yes, I'd work 60+ hours a week outside, in the hottest temperatures of the year, but those 60+ hours a week were spent with your best friends.  That's what made the whole job worthwhile.  Working there helped me make friends with people I never would've met otherwise.  We were all stuck in the same place, doing pretty much manual labor, why not make the most of it and have fun?  Once the work day was over, everyone would party, live it up, go to sleep, work 12-14 hours, then, party again.

One of the summers, I worked with my best friend from home, at a ferris wheel.  It was the "Giant Wheel Triangle" because there were two additional rides:  Troika, a spinning ride, and the Space Spiral, an observation tower of sorts.  Our jobs were to pretty much run the rides. They weren't the most thrilling of rides, but hey, we still got our share of fun.   But seeing Space Spiral go down brought up all those fond memories of not only that summer, but of all my Cedar Point summers.

I have so many stories from those days.  I'm sure I have enough content for a full book, which I was seriously considering doing.  It would've been called, "Secrets of a Carny," or something along those lines.  I could write a full chapter just about the different types of vomit I've seen or about the park guests that get upset because a ride is closed due to weather or that the line is too long.  And I'm sure at some point, I'll share those stories, whether it be a little at a time or all at once.

But for now, I'll end it with this video of Space Spiral imploding to make room for a new roller coaster, which does look really awesome by the way.  It's shown on the video after Space Spiral falls.  And I guess if you have to go, then this is the way to do it. 

 

 

NYC...with pictures!

Over the weekend, the BF and I took a kind of last minute trip to NYC.  We only live a couple of hours away, but have never actually been.  We took the Mega Bus, so we didn't have to worry about traffic, tolls or parking.  I was able to sleep and the BF was able to catch up on his PSP games.  We stayed at the Flatiron Hotel (which was one of the coolest places I've stayed in by the way!) on 26th St.  Considering this was our first visit and we only had a day and a half, we kept our trip to Times Square, Central Park area and the vicinity around our hotel.  Oh yea, we made it in the background on the Today Show as well (Check us out in the background between Bill and Guiliana).  Since it was ridiculously cold (we're talking like 6 degrees or something!), not that many people were hanging around the studio, so the camera guy was able to have conversations with all of us and got us on camera a couple of times when the show was coming and going from commercial.  My mom DVR'd the show.  We can now say we've been on national television :)  It did snow while we there too, but it turned to slush by the end of the morning.  Oh, and our hotel was by Koreatown, so alot of eating was spent there.  Now that we know our way around the city, we'll venture into other neighborhoods and ride the subway next time. 

A tv in the bathroom mirror!

Al's weather report.

My purchases from the korean grocery store.

Times Square.

Taking a break in Central Park.

The city squirrel that crawled up the BF's leg.

Stay classy my friends,
Heidi