Old Friends Returned

I had a rather unexpected weekend.  On Thursday I made a post on Facebook that a very old friend commented on.  In our discussion, via FB, I realized that she now lives in Raleigh and knows not a soul.  I called her up and invited her down to visit and since her husband was away on a work trip, she was delighted to come.

Colene and Lauren after Alive After Five

First let me back up and tell you how I know Colene - she is the daughter of my parents' old friends Patty and Dave.  Patty was friends with my dad since high school in Miami.  Growing up, we went on a few trips together and one summer, Colene lived with my family for a month, and then I went with her family to Fontana Village in the mountains for 10 days.  This was before cell phones.  Or maybe they just didn't work there.  I remember my mother being scared because I only called her once from a payphone the whole time.  Anyway, that is neither here nor there. 


Colene went to FSU and while I saw her once or twice over college, we really haven't had much contact since then.  She became an EMT and volunteer firefighter, got married and moved to Jacksonville, FL until the recent move to Raleigh.  While we always got along, it wasn't until this most recent visit that I realized how similar we are despite our differences.

I am very outgoing in situations where I feel comfortable - a.k.a., dances, game nights, amongst family/friends.  Initially, Colene comes off very introverted.  Yet in her role as EMT or when she feels comfortable in a situation, she too is outspoken and a strong personality.  On the other hand, among a group of people I don't know well who are talking about things I don't really care about, I become the introvert and would rather be at home reading. 

Hanging from the silk

That is but a small example of ways in which we are similar.  We also both have an affinity for reading, country music, dancing, silk aerial, board games, family, the mountains and the outdoors. 

After her arrival on Thursday, we met my friend Brandon uptown to go to a talk about 20-somethings in today's economy.  It was pretty interesting listening to the different takes of why this generation is so different from the ones before us.  Conclusion: our helicopter parents combined with the poor economy are to blame. ;)  Also, as it turns out, my friend Ford was on the panel.


Afterward, Brandon accompanied Colene and me to a nearby diner and then to Alive After Fire, which is basically loud and not-so-great live music surrounded by people drinking, smoking and groping each other.  Delightful.  Luckily, it was almost done when we arrived, so we just sat in the back and talked until it was over.  I ran into a couple friends and then we all went home.

Colene doing silks.

On Friday we went shopping for some leggings.  I learned in silk aerial it is best to have full-length leggings so you don't get silk burns on your lower legs.  Afterward, we watched So You Think You Can Dance and then went over to my grandparents house to visit.  Grandma invited us to go to the dining hall with her so we had a really delicious dinner. 

That evening, my parents finally returned from Charleston and Savannah where they'd gone for their 30th anniversary.  We only got to see them for a few minutes before we left to go to World Dance Center for a salsa dance.  It was a lot of fun and we both met new people and enjoyed ourselves.  Unfortunately, we had to get up fairly early the next morning to be at a silk aerial class in Fort Mill at 10 a.m.  Colene had only done silks one other time, but she caught on quickly.

When we got home, I showed her how to play Just Dance on the Wii.  That evening we went to church because on Sunday morning we had to go to a nearby Starbucks to cover a story about a Great Dane Rescue group that always gets together there. 

Hanging around!

We enjoyed seeing all the dogs which are so big, but very docile.  That afternoon we went to the mall then met the family over at grandma and grandpa's.  Poor Colene had to sit through over an hour of home videos, but it was really neat to see my family from over 10 years ago.  When we left there, we went to Pops in the Park which is an outdoor symphony performance held at a nearby park.  We set up a big blanket, brought Panera for dinner and had a delightful time.  My friends Christina, Brandon and Alex joined us and we all played travel Scrabble which was fun.  Even though Colene was the only one without a partner, she killed us.


After such a great weekend, yesterday left me feeling a little blue.  I had to leave to do an interview before Colene woke up, and when I got home she was gone.  However, I hope she'll be able to join us in the mountains for Fourth of July weekend. 

Travels and New Hobbies

My best friend Lieselotte is home for the month of June from studying in Amsterdam so I went up to visit her in Raleigh on Thursday June 9.  First I met her in Chapel Hill where she was staying with her brother and his girlfriend.  We all went down to the Haw River where there is a rope swing and trees you can jump off of into the water.  It was a lot of fun, but at the end, other people there caught a poisonous snake so I was happy to leave when we did.

That night we went to Franklin Street and went to Top of The Hill.  In the basement, they have darts and pool so Lieselotte and I played against Florian (her bro) and Alex (his g/f).  Lies and I won both times, and Florian was not happy. haha

Wilmington at the Dockside restaurant.

The next day, we went to her parents house in Raleigh and took it easy since we were both pretty tired.  We watched Finding Neverland with Johnny Depp - and it made us both cry several times. lol  That night we met one of her friends for dinner nearby.  At the restaurant we sat on the patio and this man had his little daughter out there and she was so precious.  Probably 1 1/2 years old, wearing a little jumper and tiny converse tennis shoes.  She had big blue eyes and was constantly laughing.  The three of us girls having dinner couldn't take our eyes off her.  And since the dad didn't have a ring on, we decided he was using his little girl for bait. lol

On Saturday Lieselotte's friend Phillip went with us to a nearby sports bar where we played pool.  He beat us every game, but we were all consistently pretty close. Afterward, Lies and I went to meet 3 of her good girlfriends from High School at Bonefish Grille for dinner.  It was nice to put faces to the names I'd heard so often.

Touching a pillar that was touched by Dawson's Creek crew.

That night, Lieselotte's parents were hosting the Dutch Club of the Triangle area at their house for Klaverjassen.  This is a Dutch card game which is very fun and every month they get together and play tournament style.  Lieselotte taught me how to play before everyone arrived.  Many of the guests were born in Holland, some had been born here to Dutch parents, and others were spouses of a Dutch person.  Most were around Lieselotte's parents ages or older.  However, a guy named Jason walked in who no one had ever seen before.  He was 27 and had recently moved to Raleigh.  His parents were Dutch but he'd been born in the US then lived in Germany for 7 years.  So yes, he spoke English, Dutch and German.  *sighs*  I feel so unlearned.  He found out about the group online and decided to join.  The crazy thing was, that his family is from Charlotte and that is where he'd just moved from.  AND, his parents live less than a mile from my house, and he used to work for the Monroe Enquirer so he knows a lot of people who now work at the Observer who used to work at the Enquirer.  It was fun to be somewhere 3 hours away and meet someone who can not only talk shop with you, but also knows many of the people you work with and recognizes your byline!  Crazy!

Anyway, it was nice to have someone besides Lieselotte to speak in English with.  Even though everyone there spoke English, most were speaking to each other in Dutch.  Jason said his Dutch was weak, but it sounded fine to me.

Wrightsville Beach.

The next morning, Lieselotte and I got up and drove to Wilmington.  I'd never been before and was so, so excited to see the town where Dawson's Creek was filmed.  We started by going to the restaurant where Joey worked on a marina.  We had a delicious seafood lunch and then went to the Airlie Gardens which were beautiful.  I was practically jumping up and down when I saw this one area where the characters of the show had many important moments.  Lieselotte took a photo of me touching a column that I know Pacey touched. lol  Anyway, from there we went to Wrightsville Beach, but it started to get cloudy almost immediately.  I walked down to the pier but they wouldn't let me on it without paying and I hadn't brought any money with me.  I took some photos and by the time I got back to where Lieselotte was resting on the beach, she too was ready to go.  We drove through some heavy rain to get to downtown Wilmington and have some cold drinks at Hell's Kitchen - where Joey worked in college on the show.  Also, I didn't know this before, but Hell's Kitchen also has Joey's boat that she rows on the creek throughout the seasons.

Hell's Kitchen.

We walked a couple blocks from there down to the riverfront, took a few more photos and then headed back to Raleigh.  That night, Jason came and picked us up and we all went to an Irish restaurant in downtown Raleigh.  I hadn't been in downtown Raleigh since before college and I didn't realize how much it reminded me of Tallahassee, but with fewer pretty trees.  I really liked the restaurant/bar and we had good sandwiches and then played darts.  Jason won the first round, but I won the second by quite a lot.  (However, Jason had taught us the art of "leaning" so that had helped).  Jason won the last round and then we had to go because he had to work in the morning.

I left Lieselotte's Monday morning and drove to Chapel Hill where I had a nice get together with my old Shakespeare professor, Professor Gless.  He really was such an inspiration to me in school and has so many interesting stories and insights.  He recently went to south Africa and went on a safari where he sat in an open jeep while lions and leopards and every other kind of African animal strolled right by.  He said if they'd wanted to, the large cats could have easily pounced on them, but the guide said they were so used to the jeeps they never bothered them.  I really want to do that one day.

With Jason and Lies at the Irish restaurant.

Back here in Charlotte I have just taken my first two silk aerial lessons - you know, the thing where the red silk hangs from the ceiling and people twist themselves up in it and fly around.  I purchased a Groupon for $30 for five classes which is such a deal since many of the classes are 1.5 hrs long.  I took my first lesson on Monday night for an hour and it was an intro lesson.  I caught on quite quickly, probably because even though I'm not that flexible, I'm fairly strong and fearless.  There were five other girls in the class who had never done it before either and it was really funny to watch some of them attempt to do the moves that I felt were fairly simple.  I think the main problem was trusting that the fabric would hold them which I wasn't worried about.  Anyway, after the class, the teacher said I could attend a mixed level class from then on. :)

This is an example of something I learned in Aerial Dance.

So, on Tuesday I was sitting around thinking about all the moves I'd learned and browsing the different classes they offered online and decided I'd go to another longer one that night before Charlotte ONE.  Well, that was probably not the best idea in hindsight. haha  I had a lot of fun and learned some cool stuff, but from the time I left, the soreness I already had from the day before was multiplied by about 50 and it hurt to just shake someone's hands.  Today, all the muscles in my arms hurt, my fingers ache, my hips ache, my legs ache and I have strange purple bruises on my stomach.  BUT, it was soooo much fun!  This is the problem with Groupons - they get you to try something and then you suddenly realize that you are going to start paying out the wazoo to keep it up. I think for what I want to do it'll cost about $200 every 2.5 months to take two classes a week.  But, since I'm not paying to take dance classes anymore, I guess that's not too bad.

I've also been writing a lot of articles for the paper lately since Jessy just had her baby and is on maternity leave.  I feel like they aren't going to be too happy when I leave for two weeks to go to Utah.

Crazy Busyness

I haven't written in a while because I've been incredibly busy!  I've been working a lot for the Observer, and over the past few days I've been told (not asked) that I need to write another column weekly (school news - I already do charity column), as well as pick up several extra stories per week for the Ballantyne section because the main reporter for that section is pregnant and ill and will soon be having the baby and therefore, not able to work for the summer.  This is on top of the 2 stories a week I already do for my normal South Charlotte Sunday section.  So, basically, I'm supposed to be writing 4 to 6 stories a week and do 2 columns - that's more than a full-time reporter, and I'm not getting benefits or hourly wages!  I'm sorry, the whole point of being a freelancer is being FREE.  I mean, I can always use the work, but a little gratitude never hurt.  Or a please would be nice.  Anyway, so I'm a bit stressed out since I have a lot of travel plans this summer.  My best friend Lieselotte is in town from Amsterdam only for the month of June, and then I'm going to Utah for the last 2 weeks of July.

Oh, yes - Utah is a definite!  I will fly to Las Vegas July 16 and meet up with a girl from London and a guy from China (both of whom I found through Couchsurfing).  I've talked to both, but have not met either.  They both seem like really cool people and should be very fun to travel with.

We will rent a car on the 17th and Vegas and drive to Utah.  We will go to: Zion Nat'l Park, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef Nat'l Park, Arches Nat'l Park and Canyonlands Nat'l Park.  We will camp - which means I have to fit my tent and sleeping bag into a suitcase!  Ah!  lol 

I'll return the car the morning of July 30 in Vegas and fly home that afternoon. 

My high school best friend Tiffany flew into town yesterday morning so I picked her up from the airport and took her to her parent's lake house on Lake Norman.  We spent the day working on our computers, then we went in the pool for a while before heading to dinner and a movie.  Tiffany, her mom and I all saw Bridesmaids which was very funny, though a bit hard-edge at times. 

Today, Tiffany and I went on the jet ski and met my Uncle Bob, cousin Erin, her wife Kerri, and my brother out while they were on Uncle Bob's  boat.  We all switched off skiing off the boat and riding the jet ski.  It was a fun day and Uncle Bob was kind enough to treat us all to a yummy lunch at a lakeside restaurant. 

After swimming in the pool some more with Tiffany, we both got ready to go and while she drove to Asheville, I drove back to Charlotte and visited with the family at Grandma and Grandpa's house where Grandma made chili for everyone.  Now I'm exhausted and really need to go to bed.  I'm covering a story tomorrow, writing a couple and going shopping with Erin, Kerri and Mom.