Friday, April 29, 2011

Annie at 14, she's a poet

I found this in a journal I had to write for my freshman English class, when I was fourteen. I have been digging through old boxes and deep into closets getting ready for my move, it's amazing how many bits and pieces of my life I have left behind in my parents' house, after all this time.
I was surprised to find a poem, I even had to google it because I didn't believe I wrote it. I was always bad at writing poems... I still am. This is just half a poem, but it kind of gave me flutters.


The love of the young is a precious thing
It's innocent and sweet like a doves white wing
The small romances that come from imagination
Take form and spring from all creation

The funny thing in, the only love I knew was my crush on my brother's best friend, six years my senior. Quite the *imagination*. 

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Sitting in a coffee shop

I wrote this in my little notebook during my vacation... my notebook collected a lot of silly things while on planes and in between planes... I shouldn't be left to myself, my mind goes in all directions... but this one was a bit normal...


Coffee shops are one of my favorite places to be. You can get lost in a coffee shop, you lose yourself. You can just escape from life and drown in the sounds - the music, the chattering, the coffee grinding, milk steaming. Beautiful sounds.
In college coffee shops were the only place I could get work done. No one could understand it. They needed the quiet of a library or their own homes. But quiet distracts me, and I can find anything to distract me at home. I need the bustle, the sound. And coffee shops have that charge in the air of "let's get things done!"
I love to just come and read or write. When I need to get out of my house, to just have "me time," I go to coffee shops. They just make me feel better. I write, I read, I people watch, and I drink delicious coffee.
My home town doesn't have any sort of coffee shop, sure we have a Dunkin Donuts (which I despise) and a bagel shop that is open in the morning, but no place to just grab a cup of coffee and sit, read, relax. I guess in an area with such a tiny population, a farming town where we work from dawn to dusk, and then some - a place where we do not have the leisure time to just sit and have coffee, a shop wouldn't do well. Shame.

In this little coffee shop, there is a man to my left playing is electric guitar. It isn't plugged in, but it still makes an interesting sound. At his table a college girl is quickly finishing some school work before she has to dash to class. Next to her a man with nice shoes and unkempt hair is working on a complex math problem on a scrap of paper. The man sitting across from me looks very concerned, working on his Macbook. I'm sitting, writing. My little roller suitcase is perched next to me, waiting to be toted around the city, and finally to Austin. We're all here, sitting in close proximity. All so different, but sharing a space, coffee, and the sounds that I love.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

What I wore Wednesday - ish.

Some of the blogs I read have "What I Wore Wednesdays" which always make me swoon with jealousy, and then make me laugh at myself because, man I do not wear cute things. They also do "What I Wore To Work" and I think of them when I head off to work, because what I wear to work is ridiculous. 
I've thought of taking a picture of myself before I head off to the twins because I get ready for bed before I leave my house. So I wear flannel pajama bottoms, a long sleeve thermal shirt, throw on my giant jacket and rain or snow boots, depending on the whether. Really, I look dashing. 
You may think I look a bit cuter when I go to work at the hotel. But sadly my uniform has morphed into corduroys, a sweater, and clogs. Clogs. Yesterday, because the hotel is shut down for the month of April, I wore old jeans, a sweatshirt, a fleece jacket, and my sister's Bogs. A perfect image of a Vermont farm girl. 
So what did I wear Wednesday? Unfortunately I've been terribly sick since I returned home from my vacation so today I decided to not move from my bed and maybe I will magically recover. So I am wearing my UNH hospitality shirt (shout out to Christine!) and sweat pants. Pretty, eh?


When I was in Copenhagen I went out and did some errands with my brother, when he stepped into the bank I told him I'd wait outside. We were on the busiest street in Denmark - the busiest street for bikes that is - so it was people watching central. So many beautiful people in perfect outfits rode by on their cute, vintage looking bikes. I was in awe, a little jealous, and remembering fondly how I used to look on my adorable bike with its wicker basket, and my perfect outfits. 
When I moved back to Vermont after living in Europe for over a year, I tried to maintain my style. But it was difficult. It was cold, the icy roads and parking lots made it impossible to wear heels. Dresses became out of the question after only a few weeks. Now that the snow has finally melted the mud prevents me from wearing anything but rubber boots. So I've fallen into the easy, "I don't care how I look" life of a northern Vermonter. In the beginning it kind of felt good, knowing I could wear anything and wouldn't be looked at with an unkind eye. I wore jeans I would never be seen in in Copenhagen. I wore hideous wool sweaters just because I knew it would keep more warm. I stopped caring.
But now I miss it. I miss my cute outfits. I have a pile of heels that go untouched. I yearn for last year when I was flitting around London in dresses and stilettos. But if I wore anything like that here, people would think I'm crazy. "Are you dressing up for the cows?" Sigh. 
Just a month to go before I move back to a city! 
Until then, old jeans and rubber boots. 

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Do I know what I'm getting myself into?

"You're going to hate it sometimes, you know. There will be days you will be absolutely miserable. Maybe you won't have enough money for food, maybe you'll have gone out every single day looking for a job, maybe you will go to interview after interview with no call backs. Maybe you won't make any friends. You'll find yourself on the floor of your bedroom, crying. Forcing yourself to not call mom, because that would be admitting defeat. Telling yourself that you chose this. And that is all you can do. Keep reminding yourself that this is what you wanted. This is what you signed up for, whether you knew it at the time or not. You chose to move 2,000 miles away. You chose to not be near family. You chose this life for you. So you have to deal with the consequences.
"I'm not saying it's all going to be terrible. You're going to have some good times too. In the beginning you will be high on life, high on the new adventure. You'll find yourself surrounded by new, amazing, interesting people. You'll laugh a lot, go a little crazy, have a lot of fun. Because new is fun. But new is also scary. No matter how independent you think you are, new can scare you. Just be ready for that.
"I'm not telling you not to go, I'm proud of you for taking this step. I'm proud of you for branching off, making your own life, carving your own path. I just worry for you. I just want you to be prepared. I don't want you to give up. So I'm warning  you now, be ready for the tough times, because there will be many."

This was a lecture from my brother, B3, the day before I flew down to Austin to look for apartments. I was annoyed with him. Of course I knew it would be hard, I've lived on my own before, I told him. I know what it's like to not have any money to buy food, to not have any money to put gas in my car in order to get to the grocery store to buy food. I have been there. But have I? I've always had the little cushion of student loans (I loathe you now loans). I've been able to call my mother and ask her to maybe perhaps put twenty dollars in my bank account? Because I was a starving college student, that was acceptable. I'm an adult now, I can't call my mother about everything. I need to make my own life.

Cut to me in Austin. Madic's plane was delayed overnight. I was sitting alone in his friend of a friend's house. My realtor was being difficult and flaky. I couldn't figure out a way to get downtown that wouldn't take two hours. And so, I sat on the floor and cried (You may notice that when I cry, I sit on the floor... it helps me feel more grounded). Then I called my mother and cried, ready to admit defeat. I asked myself, and her, and my father who was listening in the background. "What the hell am I doing? Why did I think this was a good idea?!" To which my mom told me this was just a bump in the road, a good learning experience, and that everything will be ok. And if it wasn't ok, then I didn't have to move to Austin. Simple as that. Except I am super proud and stubborn and I've been telling everyone I'm moving to Austin so I cannot back out now. So I didn't.
Madic finally arrived, we called a new realtor, we found a great apartment, and I began to breath again. Until I started thinking about my job search without a degree... Oy vey, what have I gotten myself into? I just need to listen to what my brother says and face it head on, because, I chose this.

Monday, April 25, 2011

*Guest Post* Kelsey from Harbor Cottage

Hello! I'm finally home but my life is absolutely insane! Kelsey was so wonderful to write a guest post for me, but when I tried to upload it in Denmark my computer gave me such a difficult time I finally gave up. Good thing, because now I have something to post while I get my life back together in Vermont! 
I hope everyone had a beautiful Easter! Mine was full of family and blessings! 



Hi! I'm Kelsey and I run the show over at Harbor Cottage. It's my little second home that lives inside my Mac. It's a place where the hubs gets no say on where we're hanging this or when we're cleaning up that. It's a pretty sweet deal so you should come check it out!


So... I've been thinking and thinking and thinking about what to write for Annie while she is away in a place I seriously looked up on Google (I can't believe I just revealed that to all of you). So while Annie is somewhere between Germany and Norway I am blogging for her in between my cat and my husband, right where I like to be. 

 

I am one of those people who spends half of my work day planning entire vacations and scheduling flights right to the point before it's time to plug in a credit card number before I decide that what's in our bank account just doesn't justify a vacation right now. Not that we're not doing OK. I'm just really close with my money. We're good friends so it's hard to say goodbye. You know? 

In the 9 1/2 years that the hubs and I have been together we've only been to Hawaii. We spent 10 days in the sand and it was glorious and I can't say that I would mind getting another perfect tan on Oahu.

 

Since we skimp on large vacations we sometimes take mini vacations. We like to take weekenders to my grandparents' cabin where we hike Yosemite and spend hours at the lake... and we've been down to Southern California three times. But... it's just not enough for us. 


I think that some people are content with NEVER traveling. I used to think I was one of those people who would go to school, come out with a degree, buy a home and have six kids. Now I'm thinking it might be pretty sweet to finish school and spend a year traveling anywhere and everywhere that we want and are able. And while that may mean that a down payment on a home gets spent across country... I think I might be OK with it. 

Money's just money no matter how hard it is to say goodbye. 
And there's my life lesson for today dearies. 

So... since none of you know who I am I'll tell you the top 16+ places we want to visit right this moment:

Denver, Colorado
Oahu, Hawaii
Aetna, California
Oregon
Washington D.C.
Philadelphia, Pennsyvania
Miami, Florida
Chicago, Illinois
New York City, New York
Mexico
London, England
Florence, Italy
Dublin, Ireland
The Grand Canyon
Niagara Falls
Canada
Each and every National Park in America

and all the good places in between.
Who wants to pack us in their suitcases?

Kels

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

**Guest Post** Tara from A Serendipitious Life

 Tara from A Serendipitous Life is Guest Blogging for me today! Tara's blog was one of the first I discovered, and I absolutely love it! She is an amazing amount of fun, extremely sweet, and always ready to give sound advice, encouragement, and love! 
I am so excited she has decided to share this little piece of her life with us...

When Annie offered up her blog for guest posters, I jumped at the chance but had no idea what I could write about! However, she mentioned a few things she would love to hear about and one was people's nieces and/or nephews, so I jumped at the chance to write about my own...because I actually haven't written about them in my blog yet!

I still remember when I got the call from my sister, telling me that I was going to be an aunt. I was 23 and she was only 18, so you can imagine that my first niece wasn't exactly planned. About eight months later, though, my entire family was up at the crack of dawn and gathered in a hospital room, anxiously awaiting my sister and our brand new niece/granddaughter to return from her cesarean section. And she was perfect, literally perfect, like a tiny porcelain doll.

You see, I've never been much of a "kid person". To be completely honest I still don't think I want children of my own, and no, having a niece and a nephew hasn't changed my mind either way. Most of the time I just feel awkward around children - but not around my niece Savannah and even less so around my nephew Spencer, who came along almost exactly three years after his older sister and is quite possibly the happiest, sweetest little boy in the world. Watching my niece and nephew "grow up" has completely proven that boys are far, far easier than girls. They may be active...they may get into things...but I swear, they cry less, sleep more, and eat better!

The thing about nieces and nephews is that you get all the joy of children and basically none of the work...which is of course perfect for those like me, who just aren't sure about the whole kids thing. I get to be the "cool aunt" who introduces them to things like great books, weird foods, and playing the guitar.

Nowadays, Savannah is four and a half and Spencer is one and a half, and at the beginning of this year I found out that my other sister was expecting! Just last week I got the "what I'm having" call...another niece for yours truly! And I'm a little older now, a little wiser, so maybe--just maybe--I'll actually offer to babysit this one sometimes ;)

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

FREE CONE DAY!

I'm not actually back. I just had to post this today. Because, friends, today is a very special day. Today is Free Cone Day at Ben and Jerry's.

This holiday is taken very, very seriously where I come from. What else do we have going for us? Yes, delicious, amazing, wonderful maple syrup. And Cabot cheese that I will love forever and ever. (And I know someone is going to say we have skiing. But listen, I do not like skiing. Nope, I live on a ski mountain and I don't like it. Get over it.) But come on, this is ice cream. And now it is ice cream you can get for free. And if you are like me you drive to every single scoop shop in the whole damn state and bordering states and you get a lot of free ice cream. You guys are aware I'm a huge fatty right?
Also, I love anything that is free. When Cumberland Farms did free coffee Fridays I died. I probably had five every Friday. Sometimes I would have more. Then I would spend the whole day running around and screaming in strangers' faces "Free Coffee!!!" That's a true story.
In college we would drive all over Rhode Island (not actually an amazing feat) and into Connecticut to visit every scoop shop in order to eat a lot of ice cream without people knowing how disgusting we really were. All was well until we got pulled over for having too many people in the car. The officer asked where we were going.
"Ben and Jerry's!" We all chimed in, ready to help in any way. That's when the cop noticed our empty ice cream cups littering the dashboard.
"You mean you are coming from Ben and Jerry's?" We were caught. The embarrassment was almost too much to bear. He took all of our id's as we tried to explain it was Free Cone Day and it was completely legal to get free ice cream at multiple scoop shops. As he walked to his cruiser I knew we would all be arrested.
When he returned to our car he tapped on the window and asked, "Which one of you is Annie O?"
My stomach lurched, "Um, me..."
"Annie, there's a warrant out for your arrest in the state of Vermont." You may think I'm kidding, but I am absolutely not.
So I do what any person would do, I started racking my brain trying to remember every detail from last weekend (I had spent it in Burlington, weird stuff happens in Burlington...) and the joking worry from before suddenly became a realty. My friends stared at me in disbelief as I turned bright red.
"I'm just kidding. Hey, where's the next scoop shop?" I hated that man more than I've ever hated a man before.
But then he didn't give us a ticket, followed us to the next scoop shop and bought me a soda (because the ice cream was free, duh). I have no idea why, out of a car jam packed with people, he decided to pick on me (the one girl who may have actually done something wrong). But I got a free soda out of it, along with all those free ice creams, and I may have also peed my pants. But what's the harm in that right?

Let's talk about something lighter. More happy. More... flavorful.

Growing up my favorite flavor was Cherry Garcia. Turns out, that's the country's most popular flavor. It is also Japan's most popular flavor. I say that because I have seen one Japanese boy try five different flavors and Cherry Garcia was his favorite. I have decided that was a good enough sample size.
For a glorious three years I ate Bovinity Divinity like it was going out of style. And it was, it now resides in the Flavor Graveyard. I visit it often to cry.
In college I had the boy at my favorite wings restaurant deliver New York Super Fudge Chunk on occasion. The restaurant was across the street from Cumberland farms, so he drove over there and bought the ice cream before he delivered my wings. I also had him bring me a tub of sour cream once. How I managed to get this boy to deliver such fatty things I will never know. But I will always remember him fondly.
And now? Now I am wholeheartedly, 100% in love with Coffee Heathbar Crunch. The problem? It is not served in Scoop shops. I had a long conversation about why with one of the scoopers in Burlington once, he seemed well informed, but I was skeptical, so now I do not remember the explanation. Also, it is not available in Denmark. Which is why tomorrow I will be getting a free Triple Caramel Chunk. And then I will return and enjoy a free Chocolate Macadamia. And doing a little research I see that Clusterfluff is now available in scoop shops so I will have to make a third trip, simply because I can get a free Clusterfluff. How could you pass that up? I hope you all will partake in the Clusterfluff.

I will also be downloading the Ben and Jerry's Scoop of Happiness App on my brothers Iphone (cause he's cool and has one and I'm super uncool and do not). You should all do that too. And take pictures with the Free Cone frame and share them on twitter, and I will love you forever.
Wait! Are you following me on Twitter?? DO IT! @anniedrinkwine (shameless plug? or I just don't want to miss a thing about you..?

Now, get out there and get your free cone(s)!
Oh, and P.S. I will actually be having a free cup. Because cones kill me. Sort of. Ok, cones just make me get a little sick. And by a little I mean a lot.

BUT GO! EAT ICE CREAM!!

And when you are full of ice cream, go read Vegetable Assassin's post about Vermont, it's delightful.

Monday, April 11, 2011

*Guest Post* Cait from Fit, Fierce and Fabulous!

Hello everyone! At this moment I am probably wearing a tutu and flitting around Copenhagen with my niece. 
But I wanted you to still be able to come over and have a little read, so Cait was so wonderful and agreed to blog sit for me! I hope you enjoy! Missing you all... 







source


Hey fellow bloggers! My name is Cait from Fit, Fierce and Fabulous! My sweet Annie asked me to do a guest post about my favorite trip that I’ve taken on and I couldn’t wait to start chatting, typing it out!

I have been blessed to take a 2 week trip to Italy 3 years ago with some of my best friends in college. I went for a course that our college was hosting, and I couldn’t be more grateful to have experienced the wonder of what Italy had to offer.

The first day we arrived, we landed in Palmero, exhausted, dehydrated, but ready to pinch ourselves at the thought of what this gorgeous day would come!



One of my favorite things that we did while in the Sicily area, was eat as much gelato as possible, and no joke, I ate this every single day!
 The best part about all the gelato is that you can mix the craziest flavors together and somehow they still taste AMAZING


Another favorite place we visited was a town called Taormina. I literally felt like I was on a movie set walking around the cobble stone steps, visiting the shops and attempting to talk to the local Italians (my Italian is so bad haha)

Never the less, we stayed at this hotel, where a friend and I snuck on the roof and snapped this picture of me. It doesn’t even describe how incredible the view is from the roof, but this snapshot will do.  I vowed to go back one day and I really hope I can keep that promise!



So there you go! That is one of the best trips I have ever been on! As a travel bug, I am actually going back to Europe starting the middle of May to the middle of June! If you want to know where I’m traveling, please visit my blog and share some tips and tricks! I would love to know more about where you have been, even if it’s not out of the country!