Morning Commute

I was scheduled to work the opening shift at the Y this morning...and for those of you who don't know, the Y opens at 5 am so opening staff must be there around 430-445.  Woof.  This means that in order to actually get to the Y on time, I have to wake up at 345.  Double woof.

So I roll out of bed (literally) at 345, make strong coffee, get ready, and wonder why people actually desire to work out so early.  I am EXHAUSTED.  Taylor wanted to wake up extra early and take me out to breakfast..right...but it was the thought that counts.  And luckily it wasn't that cold outside so walking out to my car wasn't such a shock to my system.

Now there is a huge benefit to waking up two hours before the crack of dawn: there is absolutely no traffic!  I hit every green light...almost.  I was cruising down S. Tryon St. at a reasonable speed of around 50 (in a 45) when the light right ahead of me turned yellow.  In my head I was thinking two things:

1. I'm too close to the light to stop
2. There are no cars on the road so squeezing by won't be an issue

So naturally I decided to gas it...until I saw what triggered the light change: a police car.  Gasp!

I SLAMMED on my breaks (which really did no good since they need to be changed anyway), coffee flying everywhere, and managed to stop smack-dab in the middle of the intersection.

I closed my eyes and prayed that I would not be arrested or ticketed and slowly drove forward out of the intersection, all the while apologetically waving to the cop and mouthing "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!".  If it had been later in the day, I would've caused a pile up stopping that fast, but, then again, I would not have stopped so close to the light since there would've been several cars behind me trying to get through too.

Well, the cop just sat there and I don't even know in my hysteria if he saw me or was looking at his computer screen (but I'm sure he saw me and had a good chuckle afterward thinking what a dumb-ass driver).  I hope that at least he saw that I had good intentions and tried to stop.  I stared back into my rear-view mirror for a good 5 minutes after just to make sure.  Either way, I made it to the Y at 446, cleaned some of the coffee up, and strolled in nonchalantly.  What a morning.

By the way, there was at least 30 people waiting outside when I drove in.  Crazies.

I may not be an anthropologist, but I do love anthropologie

Occasionally I will pretend shop in one of my favorite stores that I can never seem to afford: Anthropologie.  They have one in the rich mall in Charlotte and I loooovvveee going in there.

Well, I am on the email list just in case there is a 99% off sale or something and I received an email about their new line: BHLDN (wedding stuff!!!).

Not that I'm planning on getting married anytime soon, but a woman can look right?  And drool?  And ogle?  And not that I'm for certain going to get anything here, but since I was looking anyway I picked out a gown that I thought was absolutely stunning and fit my personality.

I realize that this Bohemian beauty is probably 8 feet tall, so I couldn't wear just regular sandals...but maybe some cute sandal/high heel combo.  I'm not 100% crazy about the pattern on the dress, but I do love that it's creamy and not white and is made of linen.  Yum.  Annnddd, the most important part is that it has a low back with slim strings (tube tops make me look manly due to my broad shoulders from swimming...so no tube tops)!!!  Yes, this is my type of dress and I love it.  What do you think??

Note to self:

Dear Randi,

Next time you are thinking about traveling via car up to Virginia/Maryland, remember to follow these important guidelines:

• Pack lunch on I-95 if you desire anything besides fried food or pancakes

• Have 4 extra tires in car in event of a blowout due to excess pot holes

• DO NOT stop in Petersburg, VA for gas; if you do, do no leave pump unattended and bring safety weapon if you plan to exit vehicle

• Update GPS weekly: roads you thought existed are only a figment of your imagination or are dirt

• Do not live on DC/MD boarder 

• Remind other traveler (aka mom) to bring her own music
• Music that is agreed on: 
• Earth, Wind, and Fire
• Train
• John Denver
• Some 80's and 90's
• Music that is not agreed on:
• Anything 70's 
• Rap
• Country
• Steve Miller Band, Eric Claptan, Elton John, James Taylor or other "easy listening"

• Bring: candy, ranch sunflower seeds, chewing gum, and bag for trash

• Do not flick off every truck driver for driving in the passing lane even though they are not passing

These reminders will make for a fun and safe trip.

Valentine's Day

Handsome Taylor and I had a wonderful Valentine's Day.  Well, I celebrated the first part of the day in the dentist's office (last time!), and then the rest of the afternoon in my kitchen (I had yesterday off from work).  Since I'm still on a budget, I couldn't really go crazy and buy him a diamond watch or anything, so I did the next best thing.  I baked. :)

Now I'm not much of a baker, especially since I don't have any tools necessary for mixing and creating wonderfully yummy things.

Anyway, I did the best that I could with Ms. Betty Crocker, my IKEA wisk, some icing, and of course, Valentine's Day cookie cutouts (that I decided were much better used on cake) and came up with this...

Strawberry...mmmm...and colorfully appropriate for Valentine's Day <3
The icing I made with some butter, powdered sugar, a little cream and vanilla, food coloring, and love.  It's delicious!

Aren't the hearts cute??  (Thanks Target)

This was the card I made (now...I got a similar idea off the internet, so I can't really take all the credit, but at least it was hand-made!).  And in case you can't tell, I do really love sharks :)

The inside of the card :)  Hahahaha!

Wal-lah!  The final product!

Well, Handsome Taylor took me out to dinner at a great sushi restaraunt in downtown Charlotte.  And of course, we got to dress up which made it so much more fun and romantic.  The sushi was fantastic!!  I had the volcano roll (which I now swear by and will probably compare all other sushi to), and he had a roll with...(if you know him, this shouldn't be a surprise)...jalapeños.

Happy Valentine's Day! xoxo

In a tizzy for tea!

I am not a coffee person.  I love tea.  White tea, green tea, oolong tea, black tea, and occasionally some of those herbal concoctions including rooibos, mate, and well, herbal infusions (Celestial Seasonings kind of stuff) too.  

There's a whole world of tea out there unexplored by my tastebuds!  I usually prefer green tea, or a white tea with some sugar of course! (before bedtime...very low caffine) not only because of the great taste, but the high antioxidants and other great health benefits.  I'll drink black tea with cream and sugar in the morning for an excellent substitute of coffee.  

The best black tea!  Thanks London!

However, a good friend introduced me to Chinese oolong.  Ahh, oolong.  You are the perfect medium between green and black.  Simply delicious.  I recently took a trip to Teavana and bought some loose-leaf tea (the best, if you ask my opinion) and just couldn't resist showing my new tea off!

I know they look like little poo balls, but they are actually delicately rolled green tea leaves fragranced with jasmine.  Mmmm

My dad got me this cute little tea strainer (Swedish design) that is so neat!  Just press and wal-lah!  Open to any kind of tea you wish you put in it! 

Ms. Frazier goes to Washington and Maryland

You might have wondered where I went this past week.  Well, I'll tell you.  And I'll give you some juicy details too!  I drove up to Northern Virginia with my mom and during the week, we visited many-a-places to see many-a-great-things.

You see, I am seeking a graduate position at the University of Maryland, but in order to be accepted into a graduate department, one must find a graduate professor.  This person will be your mentor, advisor, and best friend...sometimes only friend when you're wedged in a book for 4 years.

I've spent the past year looking for this person, and it's been a rough journey, especially since the budget for graduate programs has been cut and the number of graduates applying to school has increased tenfold!  Either way, I was able to visit several possible profs across the state of Maryland at various labs.  It was great!

We made some important stops along the way:

One of my first homes in Greensboro, NC

Meeting my godmother for the first time!  I didn't even know I had one!  She was the professional calligrapher for the Clinton administration!!!  Her office was beside Hillary's!!!  I knew I loved her!

Anne Arundel Hall at the University of Maryland, my grandmothers name and namesake.  Yes, she (and I) am in direct lineage to Anne Arundel!  

The Baltimore Aquarium.  If you haven't gone, you should go.  Period.

And of course one of my favorite places (I never go to DC without stopping by!): The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History!  I saw this little guy and it reminded my of my brother and some of the faces he makes so I had to snap a pic!

And they have this awesome program that allows you to take your picture and it transforms you into a homo "species"...in my case, Homo floresiensis.

Last, but not least, in the Entomology section, I got an up close and personal encounter with an Atlas beetle, one of the largest in the world...and yes, he was alive...and no, I was the the one holding him.  But I totally would've!

And in case you're still wondering about the graduate school, I'm waiting to hear back so I don't have any news quite yet!  But the trip was fantastic, even though we always had to leave early (from DC and Baltimore) to avoid crazy rush-hour traffic.  We were able to see old friends and my fantastic uncle and aunt who live in Burke, VA.  And, of course, it was wonderful to be able to spend time with my mom since I don't see her that often!  Thanks mom for a great time!

Little surprises can be the bestest

This weekend was particularly stressful.  There was a family emergency on my dad's side and we spent the weekend in the hospital in Greenville, SC.  I've discovered that hospitals are very stressful and tiring environments, hence the stressful weekend.  On the bright side, I did get to spend some quality time with my family so that was wonderful.

Well, I stayed till Monday afternoon to make sure everything was safe and sound and then drove, um, I'd say around 95 on I-85 back to Charlotte to get to work by 4.  (Thank you God for letting the police be busy with other important things that day).  I was exhausted.  I honestly felt like bursting into tears at work because I was so deliriously overwhelmed with the weekend's events and my own tired-ness.  Oh, and Taylor was in Asheville for an interview, so I had no one to go home to :(

When I got off work that evening, I drove home to my empty apartment and was about to collapse on the couch when I saw this...