Last night was a great big UW/Seattle reunion and it was so so fun! Amy Barr was in town for New Year's from Washington D.C. so everyone got together for dinner. I haven't seen these people in at least a couple of years, and I miss them so much. We were all so close in college. Kailin, Steven, Sue, Amy Barr, Travis, Aliyah, Nicole Sharkey (!) that was a fun surprise, and a bunch of their Brandeis friends were all there. We headed into Park Slope and had a few drinks at Patio lounge. I had so much fun with them, they are the best kinds of people in the world! I shall love them forever and forever. Then Sam was also there! I met Sam in Seattle at Thanksgiving II dinner, where she hooked us up with people in Patagonia that work on farms. It was all so random, and in New York, and fun times.

Travis Beck:


Steven, Limey Travis, and Aliyah:


Pirate Amy:


UW REPRESENT!


Tonight I fly out from JFK to Rio De Janeiro. Common questions that come after this are:

Q: You're flying out on New Year's Eve? WHY? WHAT ABOUT ALL THE PARTIES?!?!?!
A: Yes, flights were the cheapest around this time of year, plus New Year's Eve is over-rated, I'm so over it.

Q: So what happens when you pass the international time zone? Do you celebrate New Year's twice?
A: I'm not sure. I've never been on the plane during New Year's so I don't really know. I don't think I will hit both in one flight, since Rio is 2 hours ahead...but maybe. I heard a rumor that you get free champagne at midnight though. I'll definitely let you know once I've solved this mystery.

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, I'm so excited I could burst into star bits {that taste like honey!!!!!!!!}

Hello, this is Jennifer's guest blogger, Sue, and I am here to defend my reputation about some "communication" problems we might have had which may or may not have been entirely my fault. First of all, when one sends a text message that says, "Meet me at Shanghai Cafe on Mott St" that does not mean arrive at my house with your heavy backpack in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Right? Right.

Secondly, when you are in line with other fat people to get cupcakes at Magnolia, be sure to buy at least four cupcakes, one slice of red velvet cake, and a flourless brownie because you never know when you might die. However, do not attempt to eat all these things in one night because you WILL get indigestion. This will not feel good, especially if you just caught a cold from a recent guest from the West Coast who brought plenty of holiday spirit with her, but also contagious germs. Thanks, Jennifer!

Also, if you go to the Beer Gardens after drinking 2 bottles of champagne, don't immediately go to the grill and order 12 inches of Kielbasa because this will not feel good, either, and you will most likely end up taking a cab home within an hour of arriving at the bar. Try to avoid causing conflict also by asking really personal questions about lifestyle choices to couples when they are in each other's company. If this should happen, immediately divert the attention away by talking about your own lifestyle choices. Then when you have one member of the couple alone, feel free to interrogate them about the other.

Lastly, when you are a guest blogger on someone else's blog, be sure to upload pictures mostly of yourself and to write only about your own experiences which probably have nothing to do with your host. And because pictures are so much more interesting than words, here are some recent images:


Soup Dumplings at Shanghai Cafe:







Magnolia Bakery:




Ramen at Minca:




Beer Gardens in Brooklyn:


This is a place we visited our first time in NY when we were 23 (!!!):


Hooray to Jennifer for visiting NY! And hooray for this new, exciting chapter of her life. I wish her all the best and hope that she does not end up with any tropical diseases or is kidnapped for ransom in Brazil because Mama Sung would, for once, be right about what to regret and what not to regret. Hooray for traveling!

It's cold over here

Christmas was great, Rob's family welcomed me with open arms, great food, and presents! I was only there for a few days, and then Kelly and I had to see Ernest and Rob off at Newark airport. They are in Rio DeJaneiro right now. Afterwards Kelly and I drove through Jersey, a state I hate, because their freeways are completely confusing, and don't make any sense at all, causing us to get lost a few times. And yes, it was Jersey's fault, not ours. We finally made it into NYC and then into
Brooklyn. Unfortunately Sue and I were not communicating well, and I ended up having to take my backpack back into NYC on the subway in order to meet up and have dinner. Final lesson: Be explicit about where you are meeting and always double check directions people give you. That's all I have to say about that.

Walk, walk, walking, that's pretty much all I'm doing over here in NYC. Up stairs, down stairs, through tunnels, K-town, Chinatown, SOHO, uptown, downtown, back and
forth tobrooklyn . Eating well, and for cheap, which is great. It kind of sucks that it's winter here, and that there are so many cute things to buy that are on sale, but I must not. I must continue to wear my one winter outfit until I make it to Brazil.

Yesterday was an extremely frustrating day to be in the city. It seems as though the
whole population has doubled overnight. Herds of people claim the sidewalks, and you have to literally push your way through in order to make progress. I've never been here near New Year's, and hope to never have to endure this again.

There have been a few times where I have been a little disgusted with all the commercialization that is going on here. Sometimes I think that New York is only good for buying things, and have felt bored at times because I really can't buy anything right now. I understand that it's a hub of culture and all, but there are SO many stores, so many people, so many people with shopping bags, people yelling at you to buy things, it gets a little overwhelming.

Here are some highlights my trip to NY/The East Coast:

Playing hide and seek with Ernest's boy Dylan. He is in the 90th percentile for height and weight for 17 month olds.


Going to Longwood Gardens


Giving out hand-made bird ornaments to friends and family



Waiting in line for Magnolia cupcakes



Beer Garden in Williamsburg!




P.S. Line breaks on blogger SUCK. Tis not my fault.

Cookie party

NYC for a few days. I am sick. Ugh. I think I am allergic to cold weather.

However, I did go to Ktown almost every night,



ate at pinkberry,



and drank hot toddies and spent some quality time with my dear friend Sue and my dear sister Amy.





Thank goodness I made it to Delaware where Rob has showered me with some TLC by making me chicken noodle soup {from scratch}, allowed me plenty of rest, and a warm {literal too} environment.

Last night we went over to James' mom's house to make christmas cookies! We had an array of cookie cutters to choose from:



Rolled out our own dough:





Cut out cookies:





used a cookie press:



Iced our cookies.







Tried on costumes



And had plenty of Kafader interaction time. It was fun, it's always nice to see Marge, she is a very interesting and entertaining woman to be around.

Going away partay

Thanks to everyone who made it out for my going away party, and thanks to everyone who has emailed me wishing me a safe and happy trip. I have the bestest of friends ever! I will miss you all and look forward to seeing you when I get back!

Special thanks to Rob for all his efforts and organizing the whole partay. You're the best!

I have a rought draft of the places I want to go to while I'm in Brazil and Argentina. These places include:

Rio De Janeiro
Iguazu Falls
Buenos AIres
Bariloche
Beaches of Uruguay
Florianapolis
Ilha Grande

It almost seems as though there are too many places to visit. I guess I'll have to see what happens when I actually get down there!

One of my favorite things

OMGOODNESS....my favorite holiday tree is up!!!!! This deserves a double WOOT WOOT! I love love love this tree so much. Everytime I pass by it, I feel as though my brain is going to explode. I don't know why. Maybe it's because everything about it is gigantic. The tree, the lightbulbs, the train next to it. It's like being in giant land in Mario. Or maybe it because the lights are so big and bright that they always fuzz out into the misty fog. Either way, I just know it makes me happy, and I think it will make you happy too. It's on Stanyan right at the entrance into Golden Gate Park. It's one of my favorite things about SF!

SERVAS

YAY!

Got back from Hawaii last night, and found my approved Servas paperwork in the mail.

Servas is a non-profit peace organization that believes in one universal family. Travelers can stay with host families around the world in order to actively learn about the different cultures and form friendships in order to build peace and a just society. Servas which means "to serve" in Esperanto, will be of great value to me when I am traveling through Brazil and Argentina.

I am going to go to a Servas dinner tonight, and am very excited to meet other Servas members!

For more info on Servas, go to www.usservas.org

Oh yeah, and shout-out to Kenny who just bought his ticket into Rio. HOLLA!!!!

Turtles are my best friend

When I went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay I was really excited at the potential of seeing sea turtles. That didn't happen.

BUT TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was swimming on my boogie board at Waikiki beach and saw what looked like debris. Taking a closer look, I thought it was a rock, AND THEN I noticed that it was moving, AND THEN I noticed it was a SEA TURTLE!!!! He was ginormous, {at least 2 feet in diameter} and about 5 feet away from me. He came up for air right in front of me, so close, that I could hear it spout out water and inhale air. His head was half the size of my head. It was exciting and scary at the same time. I was not expecting such as siting in such a commercialized location, but I'm sure glad it happened! Fluttering back, I tried to get my Dad out to look for him again, but we couldn't find him. Oh well. I hope my turtle friend is doing well out there.

H to the A to the WAI'I

I have been in Hawaii for a week and want to distribute "WOOTS!" to Hawaii for the following:

WOOT! for Waikiki Beach and a Japanese TV crew who decided to film us for one of their comedy shows. The host and his fashionable entourage layed his towel down next to us, fully clothed, and started talking to us. Everyone around us was staring and our neighbors asked us if we were famous. I found this whole experience very entertaining and responded with a "nope!"



WOOT! for the Pearl Harbor Memorial built over USS Arizona. The memorial was built over the sunken ship so you can see it over the water. The building was really pretty, and also designed in a way so that when the sun sets, the building changes colors with the sun.




WOOT! To Hanauma Bay for great snorkeling. It was raining and cloudy in the morning, but we still decided to go and see what would happen. Good thing, the visibilty cleared up and we saw many many different sea creatures.





WOOT! For flying to Maui and driving the Road to Hana. Garden of Eden and rainbows were truly magical.





WOOT! For Waimea and Lanikau beach. I wanted to take the sand aside and say, sand, thanks for being so fine.







Have to go to drop my sister at the airport now!