#32 : Oh how you taunt me.

#32 on my list of 101 Things has been taunting me for the past year (ever since the ill fated peach pie and blueberry buckle incident). I originally put it on my list because I feel that since I already kind of know how to bake (cupcakes) this would be an easy thing to accomplish. Oh, how wrong I was.

At this point I will mention that I am not just learning to bake pies, I am learning how to make pie dough, roll out said pie dough and then fill it with delicious fruits and/or other fillings. I think I've got the third thing down, it's items 1 and 2 that are killing me.

So, because it's summer and I live in a state renowned for its peaches (it's on the license plate for heaven's sakes), I decided that this past weekend would be a good time to (re)attack pie. Bourbon Peach Pie to be exact.

Bourbon Peach Pie filling. Just peaches, flour, sugar, vanilla and bourbon (I used whiskey because that's what I had "lying around" ... and we all know that bourbon and whiskey are basically the same thing).

The aftermath of rolling out the dough. Rolling things out has always been befuddling to me. I always feel that I am using waaaaay too much flour. However, this is where I learned that there is no such thing as too much flour. Ever. I will also share that during this process it was 90+ degrees in my kitchen. Don't ever roll out dough when it is 90+ degrees in your kitchen. You will regret  it.

The pies after the oven. Thankfully, by this point, the a/c had been fixed and it was a chilly 85 in the kitchen. Much better.










While normally I would count a recipe's completion as a success (and cross it off my list), I just can't do that to #32 just yet. I think that it's something about the dough ... or that the pie wasn't pretty ... or that I just want to bake more pie. Whatever it is, pie ... we will meet again.



e

Random Photo : Gwinnett County

I took this picture a long time ago, but just found it in the depths of my iPhoto. If you can't tell what the water towers say it's: "Gwinnett is Great" and "Success Lives Here". Now, if you've ever been to Gwinnett County, you know that neither of these statements is true.

In fact, I think that the only thing Gwinnett has going for it is the pirate mini-golf course we were playing that day.

Oh, and I apologize for the ghettoness of the photo, I was trying to block out the sun to prevent backlighting ... we were also driving about 80 on the highway.

e

#48

#48 is one that I accomplished without actually realizing I had done it. In addition, I read two very different books about related subject matter. 

The first book was Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a Jon Krakauer fanatic. I've been a fan of his ever since I picked up my brother Grant's copy of Into Thin Air which was followed in quick succession with Into the Wild and Under the Banner of Heaven (which still creeps me out to this day). Where Men Win Glory was picked up during a random visit to a bookstore when I was trying to kill time before work. I'm no writer, so I won't try to summarize the book; however, I will say that it changed my perception of Afghanistan dramatically as well as confirmed some feelings that I already had about the US Army. Also, I firmly believe that had Pat Tillman lived, he would be well on his way to becoming President. His widow, Marie, has continued his awesome work with the Pat Tillman Foundation, you should check it out.

The second biography I read was Three Cups of Tea. This was another random pick-up; however, this time from my Mom's collection at home. I had been eyeing this book for months, so when I was on a break from Moby Dick, I decided to grab it for a quick read - 36 hours later, I finally put it down. Again, I won't summarize, but the work that Greg Mortenson does transforming bags full of cash into schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan is amazing. In a part of the world that we broke (twice) but refuse to fix, Greg is actually fighting terrorism with education and community involvement. Imagine that.

e

101 Things ... an update.

As of today, I am officially 495 days into my 101 Things list. I would say that my level of accomplishment is pathetic, but I won't. I still have over 600 days left; however, I think I might have to get cracking on this list.

Since the last time I updated, I ticked a few things off the list. Some things were small (#66: spend a day at the beach), others not so small (#77 ... I'm looking at you); however, so far I've had no complaints about completing any of them.


1. Climb Mt. Monadnock
2. Go to Bonnaroo
3. Go on a date
4. Grow out my hair 
5. Finally read all of the books in my bookshelf
6. Hike the Georgia portion of the Appalachian Trail
7. Go camping twice (0/2)
8. Go skiing at least once per winter (1/3)
9. Take a trip by myself
10. Take a roadtrip with friends
11. Read all of the Jane Austen novels (2/6)
12. Wear my hair down at least twice per week
13. Write 5 letters, just because (3/5)
14. Learn calligraphy
15. Take a picture a day for a month (0/28)
16. Get my Leica fixed... and learn how to use it
17. Go to Savannah, Georgia
18. Go without TV for a week
19. Consciously learn one new thing a day for a week (0/7)
20. Make a surprise visit home
21. Visit Danielle in Seattle
22. Take a hot air balloon ride
23. Go bungee jumping or skydiving
24. Visit 4 states I have never been to (0/4)
25. Lose the 20lbs I have gained since college (so close!)
26. Call a college friend at least once per week
27. Visit four new restaurants in a month (0/4)
28. See four movies by myself in a month (0/4)
29. Get my golf game in order (my local driving range is helping with this one)
30. Turn off the email in my phone for a week
31. Learn how to grill well
32. Learn how to bake pies
33. Cook every recipe in a cookbook
34. Do yoga every week for two months (0/8)
35. Visit Machu Picchu
36. Build a house with Habitat for Humanity
37. Visit New Orleans, Louisiana
38. Find a red wine that I like
39. Save $500.00
40. Take a spinning class
41. Learn to do a pullup
42. Climb a rock wall
43. Floss three times a week for a month
44. Get a makeup lesson
45. Organize all slides and photos
46. Read two books on American History (0/2)
47. Read two books on European History (0/2)
48. Read two biographies (2/2)
49. Go to three minor league baseball games (0/3)
50. Go to an Atlanta Braves game
51. Go to the Atlanta Aquarium
52. Go to Zoo Atlanta
53. Go to the Fernbank Museum
54. Visit a distillery (Jack Daniels, Makers Mark, etc...)
55. See a drive-in movie
56. Donate blood twice (0/2)
57. Send a postcard to Postsecret
58. Do a Crossfit session
59. Learn to bake bread from scratch
60. Shoot a bow and arrow
61. Go to the gun range
62. Finally try lobster
63. Graduate from the Creative Circus
64. Do at least two blog postings a week
65. Tell Ryan Dodge that I like his blog and think he's really cool
66. Spend a day at the beach
67. Finish my daisy needlepoint
68. Set up reminders in my Google calendar for my friends birthdays
69. Go visit cousin Michele in Maryland
70. Get a job
71. Get a dog
72. Go to Waffle House
73. Move to a new city
74. Break one of my rules
75. Be able to run 5 miles
76. Take a spontaneous trip
77. Go to Europe
78. Buy a little black dress
79. Kiss someone in the rain
80. Sit outside during a thunder/lightning storm
81. Send flowers to myself
82. Send flowers to a friend anonymously
83. Actually remember my little brother Jake's birthday
84. Go one week without buying anything unnecessary
85. Snorkel
86. Send a thank you note for ALL gifts received
87. Go to Charleston, SC
88. Go out one night and NOT be Designated Driver
89. Keep a sketchbook for my time in Atlanta
90. Wear my bathing suit in actual public (Thank you Greece)
91. Learn to sail
92. Go swimming in the ocean
93. Take a flying lesson
94. Flirt shamelessly with a boy
95. Buy a guy a drink at a bar
96. Learn to do a headstand in yoga
97. Let Ashley Reid make me a one day playlist
98. Go to Wimbledon
99. Not complain about anything for a whole week.
100. Call in to a radio station
101. Take a ballroom dancing lesson.


e

Day 22: LHR to DUB, DUB to JFK, JFK to home

So, this is it. The last day of my international globe-trotting adventure. It is also the new record holder for longest. day. ever.

350am - my phone alarm goes off and I rush to get myself ready and the rest of my backpack packed. I had hired a car to take me to the train station (London tube doesn't start running until 6), so I had to be downstairs before 430.

410am - on my way to the ATM, I spy the taxi idling outside my building (I've officially met the only person more prompt than me). After running to get money and retrieve my pack from upstairs, I'm off.


450am - The driver drops me off at the famed Paddington station. As someone who loves Paddington Bear, I take a moment to see if there are any bears lurking in the station. I'm disappointed to find that there are not.


510am - The Heathrow Express is off! I'm promised a short, painfree trip to the airport. They don't disappoint.

6am - I try to check in for my flight. Both the ticket kiosk and the woman at the counter tell me that this isn't possible. She motions over to the ticketing counter and says that they can help. After 15 minutes of clicking on her keyboard, the ticket agent miraculously makes my reservation appear. (apparently, the ticket agent at AMS who changed my ticket originally, forgot to do a few things in the archaic Aer Lingus system. However, because I had been toting around two scrap paper printout "receipts" for 22 days, this ticket agent could get me a seat home. Had I gotten her name, I would have promised to name my firstborn after her.)

730am - Goodbye London. Hello Dublin.



1030am - Thankfully at the Dublin airport, the US has set up a Customs and Immigration checkpoint; therefore, I could take care of all of that nasty paperwork and line-waiting in Dublin instead of New York (where I would have no patience). Hilariously, I happened to be traveling with the both the guys and girls Irish national youth basketball teams - none of whom are taller than 6 feet. Apparently, basketball isn't a popular sport in Ireland.



1230pm - we land in New York. For an ordinary human, that might be the end of the day... not for me!

234pm - After navigating the hilarity of the A and 7 trains as well as the Airtrain, I board my favorite 234pm MetroNorth train. Suffering from a weird delirium (the type that makes it okay to pay $2 for 16oz of water), i noticed that track 103 of Grand Central smells so strange that it actually tastes funny. Before boarding my train, I take a touristy photo of Grand Central Terminal after realizing that I will have been in 2 of the most famous train stations in the world in one day. (eliza = supreme nerd)



4pm (ish) - the last vestages of the trip are demolished... the Bueno bar I bought in dublin is quickly eaten. And promptly spilled all over myself, ruining my new favorite summer-weight sweater.



435pm - after a second train transfer to Shoreline East, I am finally almost home.



515pm - My train arrives in the station and (miraculously) my mom is waiting for me! After handing over a few gifts from the All England Club, we were on our way home.

So, that is it. After 5 countries, 8 flights, 2 ferry rides, 1 toe related incident and over 115 fannypacks - my trip was over. I will say that nothing has felt better than falling into my own bed that night; however, this thrip was definitely one for the record books. There were many firsts and more than a few things ticked off the 101 Things list; not to mention getting to hang out with some great friends (new and old) whilst in exotic locations. Oh yeah, and there was that international advertising award thing. That was fun too.

A special thanks goes out to Ash without whom this whole trip would never have happened. Also, to the good people at MasterCard, please go easy on me for the next few millenia until I have this thing paid off.

Until later,

e

Day 21: London, England

After our booze-soaked day being award winners, Christy and I felt that there was only one thing left to do... Watch tennis. Both of us are avid sports fans (Christy more than I), and we both agreed that since we were in London during Wimbledon, there was no excuse not to go.



So, on Wednesday morning at 745, we joined "the queue" for tickets.








Amazingly, we got in! For 17 pounds (cash), we were granted access to some of the finest tennis in the world.



And strawberries and cream (thanks to the $20 I keep in an HSBC account, we got that shit for free!)



First, we saw the first set of a juniors match (#5 vs #9). I was heartened to see that I'm not the only one that gets pissed when I lose. One of the players started cursing in his native Czech when he lost the first set.



Then, we toured the world famous All England Club (it has a much longer name that I won't write out here).

Lastly, we happened to bump into Venus and Serena Williams on the way to their doubles match (picture taken with other/better camera). We also saw Lindsay Davenport (and her adorable pirate child). All in all, a solid morning.

After leaving Wimbledon (before we had to watch Roger lose), we met up with Sarah and did a little last sightseeing and some light shopping (10 boxes of tea shipped to my mom).




Before I knew it, it was 1030, my bags were packed and my alarm set for 350am.

Next up... do bears live at the train station?

Until later,


e

Day 20: London, England

Day 20 was a big one for this blogger; After 2 months of anticipation, the big day was finally here, it was time for the D&AD student award show. You see, two quarters ago, we all participated in a competitions class at school. The object of which was to complete briefs set forth by major design and advertising competitons (one shoe, d&ad, Cannes, etc...) with the hope of doing great work and maybe winning a prize. We completed a brief for the British tv channel e4 and their Monday night movies. It was pretty funny. The D&AD folks agreed and so, there we were. If you'd like to see what we did, go to operationbangersandcash.com and check it all out (the main video is our fundraising pitch, the commercial links are on the bottom left, I think...).
We were all a little nervous (and busy sizing up the competition), thankfully the D&AD folks thought of that and brought champagne.



Our category was the third one called and....

We won the second prize on our category! We got to get up onstage and shake the hands of the head of D&AD as well as a nice guy from e4. It was all an awesome blur.



We promptly set to work doing funny things with our new trophies.



Thank you Miss Porters School for all you taught me.






After we'd had a little more fun, a lot more booze, a rest at the apartment and some more photos...



we were ready to party.












It was a long and extremely awesome day and there are hardly words to express how excited we all are to have this honor.

After a very brief nights sleep, Christy and I got up to participate in a highly honored British tradition.

Until later,


e

Day 18 and 19: London, England

I know that I'm a little behind on my blogging, the past few days have been quite busy.

The first two days in London are a little bit of a blur. It was mostly spent wandering around our neighborhood and eating the delicious foods that Brick Lane has to offer.



We also spent a fair amount of time in the pub downstairs watching team after team get knocked out of the World Cup.


That day it was England's turn.

On Sunday night, we decided to forgo dinner out and head to the Tesco for some groceries. We made a mighty fine feast if I do say so myself.







Monday was more walking around as well as presentations by two ad agencies in the neighborhood. We also had the opportunity to go to the New Blood showcase that was put on by the D&AD. It was pretty badass. So badass, that I only took a few photos.




We also took this opportunity to walk through Old Spitalfields Market where they just happened to be setting up the next days awards show.


Eek!!

Until later,


e