Weekend in Madison...where I live...

This was my first weekend in Madison in an entire month and my also first official summer weekend in Madison...ever! To kick it off I met up with some friends at the terrace on Friday after work where we enjoyed the sun, lake and pitchers of beer. Afterwards we grabbed some chinese-thai food from a place called Chins, which after some discussion did not receive great reviews, but was decent enough for the price. Later we met up with a few more friends and checked out the comedy club where our friend was hosting (yeah, we know famous people). Afterwards we hung out at the glamorous/chic Silver Dollar where we played shuffle board and drank cheap beer until they kicked us out.

Saturday was a gorgeous day so Mali and I went to the farmers market where I bought some delicious sugar snap peas and a cinnamon roll and Mali bought strawberries and hot spicy cheese bread. I also met my friend/classmate Adam's newborn baby and got to hold her! She is a month old and really adorable. It was my first time holding a baby and fortunately nothing bad happened, its easy: just don't move a muscle until they take the baby back. Then we headed down to James Madison Park with our towels and books and enjoyed the lake and the people watching. We went back to my apartment afterwards and began to get pretty bored with watching TV when we were saved by our friend Rick with an invite for BBQ ribs at his place! With renewed energy we were there in a flash and the evening was salvaged. On the menu was delicious ribs, salad with lettuce from Rick's garden, corn, baked beans and macaroni salad. However being in the sun all day took its toll and by the end of the day we were exhausted, full, slightly sun-burned but happy.

Rick BBQ-ing:

Picture of me because this is my blog:

Mali with her usual accessory (and I dont mean the sunglasses):

Our dining room table, lots of paper towels were needed:

And the finished product:

Water and Sun

This past weekend I ventured "up north" to Camp with three friends Mali, Sean and Rick. This was not the wisest time to make the drive because unless you have been living under a rock you know about the flooding that has devasted the midwest. Parts of the highway were shut down so we got to experience some inventive detours (mostly through trial and error), making new friends along the way in towns such as Montello and Pardeeville! Travel Scrabble, food and the beautiful Wisconsin scenery, oh and the company, made the ride bearable and we made it in only 6 hours!!!!

Flooded cemetary:
Flooding and devastation:More flooding and devastation:

Camp was fun, we saw all our friends before they left for their trips this summer, hung out in the sun by the lake oh and I was offered a 25 day backpacking trip in Montana...After doing massive calculations (in my head as I had no calculator) and seeing if I could possibly scale my hours at my "jobby job" down to 20hrs/week, work full time June and August so I could take off the month of July, I realized it was not really feasible and would probably be very stressful. So here I am sitting at work and crying inwardly. But overall it was a great time.

Friends:

On the drive up I had to tie myself in as the seatbelt was broken:

Calling all my people on all my phones, yes I had much business to take care of in the Northwoods, it wasn't all fun and games.

Back

I'm back in not 100 degrees and humid Madison, however the trip did not go as planned. I was supposed to fly back on Sunday afternoon and make it to Mad-town in time for my improv class but it was not meant to be. At the Raleigh-Durham airport I was in the process of boarding the plane when they made everyone turn around because of a "possible two hour weather delay"...this was weird because there was no weather except hot in NC. Because this would make me miss my connection in Detroit I got in line to talk to the Northwest person behind the desk. She told me I was missing the last flight out of Detroit to Madison and they could reroute me through LaGuarida....WHAT!?!?, that is like the worst airport ever. I asked if I could just leave the next day and she said no problem, switched my flight to 12:30pm on Monday and gave me a $300 travel voucher. So in the end I got one more night at home, enough money for a free plane ticket, and missed a lot of hassle. I later learned that there were huge storms all over the midwest and lots of flooding in Wisconsin, three houses even floated away in the Wisconsin Dells! Crazy.

DC

I went to Washington DC with my mom for a few days this past week. We drove up on Wednesday and came back Saturday morning. We stayed at a gigantic hotel in Adams Morgan, by DuPont Circle, which was near tons of great restaurants. During our stay we had Indian, Thai, Chinese and burgers. We also spent over $300 at the liquor store. Of course we took a day to see all the sights which we have done many times before but it never gets old. Here are some pictures from our trip!

Madison, Wisconsin Memorial:


The Washington Monument:
WWII memorial:

WWII Memorial: In the background you can see the Lincoln Memorial which is at the other end of the reflecting pool.Mom protecting herself from the brutal sun:
Korean War Memorial:

A very important message:

Me and Lincoln:
Vietnam Memorial:
Obama's future home:
My mom's failed attempt at creating an optical illusion:
And of course going to see Sea Monsters in 3D at the IMAX at the Museum of Natural History. We also went to the National Gallery of Art, but my favorite painting since I was little, Mound of Butter, is still no longer gracing the walls :(

The Thrill

Chapel Hill has treated me well the past couple days. I got in on Saturday afternoon and after stopping by the house to greet my dogs my dad and I headed out for some sushi for dinner. It was my first time eating the REAL stuff, the actual raw fish not just the sushi rolls and I really liked it.

Saturday night I went out on the town with my good friends and old schoolmates from East Chapel Hill High, we had a Tyler Hansbrough sighting which is not rare and always entertaining for at least 2 minutes.

Sunday was spent by the pool (my reddened shoulders haven't forgiven me yet) and Sunday night I went to a Durham Bulls game, a tradition for most people living in the area. We had a couple jumbo dogs, peanuts and beer but ended up leaving at the fourth inning after a gigantic storm came through delaying the game for a couple of hours.

On Monday I spent more time at another pool and also a did a little shopping. That night I met up with some friends and we fired up the grill and feasted on fruit salad, steak, chicken and veggie kababs, rice, wine and cucumber salad....delicious!

I spent an exciting morning today at the DMV getting my North Carolina license back (I had switched to a Wisconsin one last year) which wasn't difficult because it was still valid. In the afternoon Lauren and I got much needed pedicures with some hot pink nail polish and chair massages to boot.

My mom got back safe from Bali last night and tomorrow we are headed up to Washington DC for a few days. Should be fun! I can't say I am missing work right now.