Here's Hoping So

 

I found this quote on Pinterest earlier and I have to say I absolutely love it.  As a self-confessed book worm, Wilde seems to understand us readers who so often have their noses buried in books.  So logically speaking, if good old Oscar is correct in his assumptions I have quite a nice life coming my way. 

 

I'm hooked on travel books. Will I travel the world eating my way from beautiful place to beautiful place? 

 

I'm a bit of a sci-fi, Harry Potter-y, Tolkien-ish, Gaiman-esque geek. Will I find magic and the fantastic in the everyday? 

 

 I devour books about boarding houses in Edinburgh and royalty in the UK.  Will I finally make the jump I've been dreaming of and become an even bigger Anglophile than I already am?

 

The story of the Bard of Stratford inspires me with his ability to pen those amazing works in such a short period of time.  Will I land a job while living in England at the famed RSC teaching kids to love what I love about Shakespeare?

 

I hoard children's books from places all over.  Will I have family I'm hoping to to share this collection and love of reading with?

 

I can't pass up a "pink" book by writers like Mary Kay Andrews, or Jane Green.  Will I bump into the man of my dreams in the middle of the street and will I be just the girl he's looking for too?  Will we marry in a small ceremony in the park and honeymoon in Paris?

 

I collect plays from drama bookstores I've adored in NYC and dream about the perfect casting and staging of each show.  Will I get a chance to see these productions live with amazing actors in beautiful settings?

 

I browse cookbooks and can almost taste the food I'm seeing.  Will I become a superstar chef like my dad or a food writer/chef like Julia?

 

All I can say is here's hoping Oscar was correct.  This would be quite a life.

Ho-Hum

I seem to be writing a lot of these, I have nothing to talk about so I'm going to talk about how I have nothing to talk about posts lately.  I really need this to stop.  The whole point of this blog was to get a life and be adventurous but I just seem to be in a rut still...oh ugh!

Hoping that as the weather turns a bit warmer and we finally leave these dull gray days of winter, the excitement will pick up.  If not this is going to turn into one very dull blog, if it's not that already.

Stark "Raven" Mad

Well, as you can imagine we here in Maryland, have gone a bit Raven crazy these last few weeks.  It's been a very long time since we've earned a trip to the Super Bowl, and it seems that the team and fans alike are soaking it up while we have the chance.  I have to say I've been pretty proud of my team and my state in the midst of all this hoopla.  First off, there have been no riots or clashes within the celebrations, so hooray for using our brains!  And then, (and I'm not absolutely positive about this so don't hold me to it) whereas our guys suited up to travel to New Orleans, the 49ers wore sweats.  Not a huge deal but our guys certainly looked like snazzy gentlemen while the 9ers just looked like college kids (not that I'm biased or anything...)

Then the best part of all is the excitement that's spreading like wildfire through the city.  The send off yesterday was full of thousands of fans while the 9ers had quite a bit less.  I'm hopeful that this all carries over into a win for us.  If not, there are going to be some very grumpy fans in Baltimore next week, and I will most definitely be one of them!

All of this being said, I have to admit some of the hype is getting a bit ridiculous.  I read a headline earlier today detailing what Joe Flacco was eating on his way to New Orleans.  Gummy Bears in case you were curious, and Pineapple is his favorite, if you're rather stalker-y.  I love Joe as much as the next girl, but why do we care? 

Go Ravens!

Spatially Challenged

As a 30th birthday present to myself, I think I've finally decided to give myself the trip I've always wanted: London, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Hay-on-Wye and Edinburgh.  10 whole days to do the things I've been dying to do and see the places I've been dreaming about.  Since I've decided on October, I have 9 months to do the planning but since this is all very exciting, I've already started.  Here's the thing...I am apparently spatially challenged when it comes to these things...

After an hour last week, I had a list of everything I wanted to see, and a detailed map of where I needed to go and how I was going to arrive there.  I had train stations marked and in the case of Hay-on-Wye, connector buses since there are no train stations in the village.  I had it planned out to the hour, and everything I wanted to see worked into my timetable perfectly. 

Then I thought, "maybe I should actually look at the rail map and an actual map of Great Britain to see how much it would cost and if my calculations were correct."  This is where the trouble started.  For a country that's roughly the size of a few of our smaller states jammed together, towns and cities are VERY far from each other.  And it just so happens that the 4 places I want to see are EXTREMELY far from each other.  Now that shouldn't be problem because they have a fantastic rail system, right?!  Well they do but the map for the rail system I believe has been concocted by some sort of masochist who really likes his job.  Exhibit A: Stratford-Upon-Avon is no more than 2 inches from Hereford (the closest station to HoW) on the map but there is absolutely NO convenient line that will take you between these 2 cities.  I can't even figure out a loop in which I could change trains...What is wrong with me?!

Then there's the issue of in which order to visit all 4 places.  I pondered this one thought for a good 20 minutes straight with about 100 iterations until my head started to hurt and I gave up.  If I were smart, I'd pick 4 other relatively close knit places and go there but I'm picky and I want what I want.  So while I foresee quite a lot of research and headache in the coming months, I'm positive it will be for the best.

 I was one of those people who never wanted an itinerary, choosing rather to leave travel up to chance, but it seems that with this trip, I'll need to plan to the last second.  Do you think it's too late to hire a personal secretary to go with me?

Muy Bueno!

I am a sucker for all things Mexican food, so imagine how excited I was when  a new restaurant opened in Columbia MD last week: Xitomate.  They are still in their soft opening stage in that they're working out the kinks between the servers and the kitchen.  A complete menu wasn't even available yet, but you can most likely deduce my thoughts based on the title of this post: Delicious!  The chips and salsa were a little different than what I'm used to; thicker homemade chips and slightly sweet salsa, but I'm sure I could have eaten a whole basket by myself...if they would have come before my meal had come instead of after.  Like I said, still working out the kinks. 

For our meal, we had the Taquitos de Puerco, and a Carne Asada burrito which were both yummy.  The burrito was supposed to come without beans which it didn't and the pico de gallo left something to be desired but the mole that came with them was outstanding!  There was also a bit of a snafu when a poached egg for a soup that was ordered, couldn't be prepared because the kitchen was out of vinegar.  Not entirely sure what happened there but I'm hoping the chefs will eventually learn that vinegar is not really that important when poaching an egg...Anyway, since the servings were a bit smaller than usual restaurant portions (sort of tapas size, I think so you can order small bites to share with the table), we also had room for dessert.  The review I read noted the to die for churros so I knew exactly what we would be getting.  And they were admittedly, to die for.  I'm certain, I could have eaten many, many more plates of those little suckers.

Once they get the kinks worked out, I'm sure they're going to have a crowd pleaser on their hands.  Between the funky decor, the pleasant and helpful staff and the mouth-watering food, they'll most definitely do just fine.  I know I will be going back, if for nothing else than to gorge on churros...

Super cool wall art: You could say I'm a bit of a fan girl when it comes to Dia de los Muertos...

These gorgeous lights were everywhere

My teeny tiny taquitos (Sorry for the lack of churro pictures, I was much too busy gobbling them up...)

Purple Party

Tonight I attended my new company's annual Winter Gala at Ravens Stadium.  Along with some great company, delicious desserts and fantastic entertainment, you could take a tour of the stadium and actually get onto the field.  Since the anticipation for the Super Bowl is at a fever pitch, I think that's what most everyone enjoyed the most!  I didn't take many photos, but the 2 below were taken of me.  For the record I realize I'm a nerd...

I'm not sure how any player manages to catch a ball on this field in this weather (It was 15 degrees at the time).  I was so cold I'm not sure I could have caught a beach ball if one was tossed to me...

I'm fairly certain I don't look as intimidating as Ray Lewis does when he shows his moves but you can be the judge...

Friday Five

Well I've had quite a bit of time on my hands this week and what does one do with all that time?  If you're not a nerd like me you go out and party.  If you are in fact me, you read, read and read.

1. "Shakespeare and Martin Luther King Demonstrate Potential of DNA Storage":  I've read this article 3 times now and I still don't completely understand what they are saying.  I can't begin to pretend that  I'm well read in matters pertaining to DNA replication, but I must admit it's an awesome idea.

2. "John Harbaugh Pranks Family on Conference Call": I LOVE this family!  They are too cute with their J names and totally adoration for the game of football.  Any other family may have issues with such a big rivalry in their hands, but I'm not worried about these guys one bit.  It's safe to say that Jim will be perfectly fine when John's team beats his...

Happy Haggis-free Burns Night!

3. "The Poetry of Robert Burns": After all if I was going to celebrate Burns Night this evening, I really should see what he had to say.  Although, I beg to differ on the writing of Auld Lang Syne.  I had heard that while everyone believes he wrote this old favorite, it was actually written after he died...Though, don't quote me on that.

4. "Don't Forget to Sign up For World Book Night": I'm kind of in love with this idea.  I'm not entirely sure it's something I'd consider participating in mostly because I'm just a little leery of approaching strangers and handing them a book I like.  I know how I'd react if someone did that to me.  I'd be fairly skeptical that it was a trick of some kind.  But if others are participating, more power to them! 

5. "The Insider's Guide to Notting Hill": As  a future Londoner, who'll be living in this quite posh neighborhood, I'll most definitely need to know these things : )