Whoops

*Old furniture posted on Craigslist: $15

*Sold to college kid: $10

*Realizing you made a mistake and buying it back: $20

*Getting back an entertainment center made by my Dad: priceless

Fat Tuesday

There is something so exciting and thrilling about the possibility of catching a 10 cent strand of beads thrown from a float (or is it just me)? Matt and I hung out on Wilson Boulevard for the annual Clarendon Mardi Gras parade Tuesday night. I set out to just be a spectator and let the kids catch all of the beads. Well, there is an internal switch that gets flipped at the sight of marching bands, colorful floats and BEADS!! It was ON! I HAD to have them!

Multiply this excitement by 100 and you've got Mardi Gras in New Orleans. My first year out of college Murphy and I decided we had to experience Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras. We went with an interesting group of characters from my early Sprint days. It was pure chaos and there is nothing that quite compares. It was impossible to make your way down Bourbon Street without being squished in a wall of people. We ended up with so many beads by the end of the night, our necks were sore (and no, we didn't earn them all). It was certainly a wild weekend and I don't know that I could do it again, now that I'm approaching my thirties ;)

Not to Brag, BUT

I had my all-time high bowling score of 157 on Friday night!

I think it was the most fun I've ever had at a bowling alley....DJ, good friends, disco lights, pitchers of beer, and some sweet competition.

Upon Kirsten's suggestion, we randomly picked a partner for a friendly c0uples competition and set the stakes at dinner. I was paired with the Crank (who also bowled 157 his first game). Lee immediately named our team "Hotdogs" after reading my recent blog entry and knowing that we share an affection for them. The 'Strikers' consisted of Matt and Ashley. I don't think the other teams had names, and the "Hotdogs" and "Strikers" conveniently ended up in a tie for first place.

Unfortunately, the bowling alley closed and we got kicked out before we were able to do a bowl off. I don't think I've ever shut down a bowling alley.

A few other things worth mentioning:

*I beat Matt.
*Ashley finally beat Chad at a sport!
*Elizabeth gets the slowest and most accurate roll superlative.
*I beat Matt.
*Thanks to Sara and Jaime for organizing, and we'll have to do it again soon when everyone can attend.

And we still need to determine when the winners dinner will be!

The Search

For some reason I am always on the lookout for cool hot dog spots. I am not sure when this search began, but I think it had something to do with my Dad's appreciation of Americana (and he also just liked a good dog). The experience of finding a dive and some true Americana along the way left a big impression on me. Whenever we were going anywhere, he seemed to have a knack for discovering a cool diner or vintage restaurant. I like to think that I carry on this tradition.

(Hot dog stand on the boardwalk in Atlantic City discovered during Murphy's bachelorette party).

I first became friendly at JMU with a local restaurant, Jess' Quick Lunch. The chili dogs are great and of course I took my Dad there the first time my parents came to visit.

I remember a great hot dog shop we found in Myrtle Beach called Sam's Corner. I think their secret is a two-fold preparation process...grilling and deep frying. My Dad and I slipped in there one late night for a beer and a dog at 2am after my mom had turned in early. We shared some special father-daughter bonding moments...and probably talked about how I needed to be more careful out alone and when was I going to declare a major.

I have to say one of my favorite hot dog places is Sheez. Of course the dining experience is not anything special, but their dogs are top notch. My favorite is a dog topped with nacho cheese and diced tomatoes.

Rachel and I found a cool hot dog stand when we were celebrating our triathlon accomplishment on Bourbon Street. After watching the vendor not use gloves and pick his ear, I decided to pass on that Americana experience. But of course, I grabbed a picture.

(Lucky Dog not so lucky in N'Orleans)

My Dad found this old-fashioned car-hop restaurant near my Aunt's house in South Carolina called 'Sno Caps'. This was a must-do every time we visited.

Hot dogs can be consumed at any time! This picture was taken about 5 minutes after a wedding ceremony in Pittsburgh. The hot dog shop was conveniently located across the street from the church.

And, I finally had the Chicago dog experience after hearing a lot about it from Rachel. It was good, but they put a ton of toppings on those pups!

(Look at all of those veggies!)

Most recently I heard (from several people) about a new dog shop opening in Adam's Morgan, M’Dawg Haute Dogs. I can't wait to check it out!

V-Day

I'll admit, I might have put a little pressure on Matt to come through with some Valentine's Day plans, but he certainly exceeded my expectations.

I was a little nervous when Matt told me he was cooking salmon. He doesn't really eat fish, let alone COOK fish! But when he pulled it out of the oven, it looked like a gourmet dish complete with a tasty marinade, spices, and veggies! He paired the meal with a lovely Pinot Noir and there were candles, flowers, dessert and even diet coke. What a great evening and it was without a doubt the best salmon I've had (I'm going to need that recipe).

Thanks to Matt for making the evening so special.

Kolby and Clara

Congrats to my cousin Mistie and her husband Dan on the new addition to their family. Kolby Daniel was born on February 8.

And later that day, Ryan and Josie welcomed their daughter Clara Josephine!

It was a good day for bebies!

Veinte Ocho

Cumpleanos Feliz to my pal Rachie.
I was looking for a pic to post and ended up spending about an hour looking back through all of my pics and our adventures, specifically the triathlon road trip. It would be hard to pick one pic, so I thought I would list some of my favorite memories and why I'm a big fan....


*Teaching me how to swim (and then bragging about how quick I learned). You'll notice in the picture above, Rachel is holding her plaque from the triathlon where she placed 3rd in her age group.

*Being back-up dancers in Memphis.

*Late Wendesday nights at Rock Bottom.

* Sitting on my bed for late night chats at sweet 16th street when we first became roommates. .


*Holiday celebrations like my Mom's Caribbean Thanksgiving, pictured here.

*Dancing like a nutball anytime we heard Enrique's "Escape".

*Finally visiting Chicago and meeting Rach's amazing network of friends and family.

*Always stirring things up when we all go out on the town.

-Miss you Rachie! Enjoy your birthday celebration and know that I am thinking about you and wishing Icould have a brew with you tonight.

Dance for a Difference on Ice!

There was a special Dance for a Difference class tonight at the ice rink downtown in Pershing Park. We were lucky enough to have the whole rink to ourselves since it was too cold for anyone else to be out! Our instructor was Ice Skater Extrodonaire, Coach and Roommate, Laura Steele. She was a wiz on ice and we all learned so much....swizzles, bunny hops, and spins!

We got some beautiful sparkling snow tonight and it was the perfect end to a fun winter evening. There is something about snow that makes it seem not as cold to be outside, and I even took at midnight stroll around Clarendon to soak it all up. I am just bummed that I haven't been able to take my plastic toboggan out for a spin this season.

Kate the Great

Kate, Jill and Michelle

Matt and I helped my friend from college Kate celebrate her 30th birthday last weekend in Richmond. Kate and I met through the co-ed business fraternity we both joined to 'build our resume.' Delta Sigma Pi, Delta Schmack, or as I prefer Delta Sigma Poop is a 'professional fraternity created to foster the study of business in universities.....'
There was a lot of memorizing, drinking, hazing (yes I know, it's weird but true), and we called each other brothers (even if we were talking about girls). It ended up being more than a resume builder and I met a lot of great friends.

Kate and I landed in several Marketing classes together and managed to get into each other's group projects (always along with one or two slackers). We had quite a chemistry working together and spent many nights up til 3am rewriting all of the crap that our slacker group members came up with and making fun of their poor grammar. We even flunked one group member who didn't do any work or come to meetings (he had to take the class again and wasn't too friendly after that). We would get so inspired writing marketing plans and case studies and reading each other minds about how to describe widgets.

Kate is now a big whig at an advertising agency and married her Delta Schmack brother. She has been such an amazing support for me over the last several years and I'm thankful to have her friendship.

-Thanks so much to Kate and Richard for a hospitable stay on the 'rivah' and for including us in your fun celebration!

Everyone's Got One

There's TomKat, Bennifer, Vaughniston..

So, Matt and I decided that our couple name is Hcampsky (ok, I decided).

Happy Birthday Rummy!

It's not so bad being over thirty is it?